USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Early history of Cleveland, Ohio : including papers and other matter relating to the adjacent country : with biographical notices of the pioneers and surveyors > Part 24
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450
DEATH OF MRS. LONG.
was put upon Dr. ALLEN's back, who soon fell over a stump and O'Mic on the top of him. The doctors dare not laugh aloud, for fear they might be discov- ered, but some of them were obliged to lie down on the ground and roll around there, before they came to the relief of Dr. ALLEN."
On the 3d of July, 1866, the following announce- ment was made in the public prints of Cleveland : "Died, on the 2d inst., at her late residence, 394 Kinsman street, Mrs. JULIANNA LONG, widow of the late Dr. DAVID LONG, aged 71 years, 9 months."
In a letter of the late Hon. ALFRED KELLEY, speak- ing of the panic caused by HULL's surrender, he makes the following statement :
"Information was received at Cleveland, through a scout from Huron, that a large number of British troops and Indians were seen from the shore, in boats, proceeding down the lake, and that they would probably reach Cleveland in the course of the ensuing night. This information spread rapidly through the surrounding settlements. A large pro- portion of the families in Cleveland, Newburg, (then part of Cleveland, ) and Euclid, immediately on the receipt of this news, took such necessary articles of food, clothing and utensils as they could carry, and started for the more populous and less exposed parts of the interior. About thirty men only remained, determined to meet the enemy if they should come, and, if possible, prevent their landing.
451
JOHN WALWORTH.
They determined at least to do all in their power to allay the panic, and prevent the depopulation of the country."
"Several ladies of Cleveland, among whom were Mrs. GEORGE WALLACE, Mrs. JOHN WALWORTH and Mrs. Dr. LONG, resolved not to desert their husbands and friends. When Mrs. LONG was told that she could not fight or forcibly oppose the enemy, she replied that she 'could nurse the sick or wounded- encourage and comfort those who could fight; at any rate she would not, by her example, encourage dis- graceful flight.'"
JOHN WALWORTH.
JOHN WALWORTH, though not among the earliest, was one of the most prominent settlers of the West- ern Reserve. He came from Aurora, New York, near Cayuga lake, to Mentor in 1799, and remaining there through the winter returned to New York in the spring for his family. WALWORTH was born in 1765 at Groton, New London Co., Connecticut. Like most young men who lived near salt water, he spent several years at sea, and visited the South American States. He came to settle at Cayuga lake in 1792. They reached their new home at Painesville on the 8th of April, 1800. He was small in stature, of very active habits, and had a pleasing cotintenance. There is in the family a paper-cut profile of his face,
452
PUBLIC TRUSTS.
the lower part of which has an excellent expression, indicating kindness, coupled with intelligence. The upper part of the profile is concealed by the hair, which is brought down over the forehead according to the fashion, seventy years since. Mr. WALWORTH could not have been selected to fill so many offices, in the organization of the new government, if he had not been worthy of them. In those days profes- sional office hunters, seldom became the successful candidates. Men were selected because they were qualified, not because they were anxious to obtain places.
A portion of the appointments he was called upon to accept have already been given. He was commis- sioned by ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, territorial Governor of Ohio, as Justice of the Peace for Trumbull county, July 4th, 1802; as an Associate Judge by Governor TIFFIN, April 14th, 1803; as Postmaster at Paines- ville, Nov. 14th, 1804; Inspector of the Port of Cuy- ahoga, by THOMAS JEFFERSON, June 12th, 1805 ; Collector of the district of Erie, July 17th, 1806; Associate Judge of Geauga county, Jan. 23d, 1806 ; Postmaster at Cleveland, May -, 1806. When the county of Cuyahoga was organized he became County Clerk and Recorder.
It was no small part of Mr. WALWORTH's good fortune, that he had a wife well suited to the circum- stances, by which they were surrounded. Miss JULIANNA MORGAN was born at Groton, Connecticut,
453
MRS. WALWORTH.
December 31st, 1769. She was therefore at the mature age of thirty-one years, when they encoun- tered the trials of pioneer life at the extreme west. Their previous residence at Aurora, New York, was not far from the verge of civilization, but this was a movement three hundred miles further into the western wilds.
Mrs. WALWORTH is remembered as a kind, digni- fied, judicious woman, spoken of with respect and kindness, by all those who shared her society or her hospitality.
When the stampede occurred at Cleveland, on the occasion of HULL's surrender, she was one of the three ladies who refused to leave the place. She rode a horse, not merely as a graceful exercise, but took long journeys in company with her husband. In 1810 she crossed the mountains in this manner, by way of Pittsburg and Philadelphia, to the eastern States.
With such training, a vigorous physique, and a cheerful disposition, it is not strange that she sur- vived three generations ; long enough to witness the results of her husbands expectations. She died at Cleveland, March 2d, 1853.
There were three sons, JOHN PERIANDER, NOW living, HORACE, who died recently in Louisiana, and ASHBEL W., who succeeded his father as Collector, dying at Cleveland, Aug. 24th, 1844, at the age of
454
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
fifty-four years. The daughters were Mrs. Dr. LONG and Mrs. Dr. STRICKLAND.
Mr. WALWORTH did not live to realize the brilliant hopes he had formed of this city and county. He died in the dark days of the war, on the 10th of September, 1812. Had he survived another year he would have heard on that day, the boom of PERRY's victorious guns. But the character of such men has an influence beyond the grave. Their characteristics are impressed upon new communities, long after they are personally forgotten.
RECORD OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
1796.
Job P. Stiles and Tabitha Cumi Stiles, his wife ; Edward Paine.
1797.
Lorenzo Carter and Rebecca Carter, ( ne Aikin ; ) Alonzo, Henry, Laura, ( Mrs. Stong, ) Mercy, ( Mrs. Abell, ) and Betsey, ( Mrs. Cathan, ) their children ; Miss Chloe Inches, ( Mrs. Clement ; ) James Kings- bury and Eunice Kingsbury, (ne Waldo, ) with three children, Amos S., Almon, and Abigail, ( Mrs. Sherman;) Ezekiel Hawley and Lucy Hawley, (ne Carter,) and one child; Elijah Gun and Anna Gun, and one child; Pierre Meloche ; Peleg Washburne, who died the same season.
455
EARLY SETTLERS.
1798.
Nathaniel Doan and Mary Doan, (ne Carey,) Job, and three daughters, afterwards Mrs. R. H. Blin, Mrs. Eddy, and Mrs. Baldwin; Samuel Dodge, Rodolphus Edwards, Nathan Chapman, Stephen Gilbert, Joseph Landon.
1799.
Richard H. Blin, William Wheeler Williams, Mr. Gallup, Major Wyatt.
1800.
Amos Spafford wife and family, Alexander Camp- bell, David Clark and wife, Mason, Martin, James, Margaret and Lucy, their children, David Bryant, Gilman Bryant and Samuel Jones.
1801.
Samuel Huntington and wife, Miss Margaret Cobb, Julius C. and Colburn, sons of Mr. Huntington, Tim- othy Doan and Polly Doan, Timothy, Jr., Seth, John, Deborah, (Mrs. Crocker,) Mrs. Samuel Dodge, and Mrs. Bronson, their children; Elisha Norton and family.
456
POPULATION.
INCREASE OF POPULATION.
1796,
4
1797,
15
1800,
7
1810,
57
1820,-
about
150
1825,- about 500
1830, U. S. Census, .
1,075
1832,
about 1,500 יו
1833,
. 1,900
1834, City Census. 3,323
1835,
5,080
1840, U. S. Census,
6,071 Ohio City, 1,577 7,648
1845, City
9,573 "
66 2,462
12,035
1846, 66
10,135
1850, U. S. 66
17,034 Ohio City ab't 3,950 20,984
1851, City 66
21,140
1852, “ 66
_25,670
1860, U. S. 66
43,838 two cities united.
1866, City 66 67,500
Some useful deductions may be drawn from these figures, in regard to the future population of this city. We have here the number of people on both sides of the river since 1840 with a reasonable approach to accuracy. The rate of increase in five years, from 1840 to 1845, is 58 per cent., from 1845 to 1850 is 74 per cent., 1850 to 1860, ten years, by the government census 109 per cent., and from 1860 to 1866, six years, 76 per cent. Our present numbers, January, 1867, are computed at 70,000.
From 1840 to 1850 the increase exceeded 10 per cent. per annum, compounded annually. On the
457
COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS.
east side, in the two succeeding years it reached 21 and 24 per cent. per annum.
The best ascertained average increase of the five year periods, for the past twenty-five years, is nearly 62 per cent. At this rate the census of 1870 should give about 100,000, of 1875, 162,000, and of 1880, 262,000.
COLLECTORS AT CLEVELAND.
JOHN WALWORTH, January 17th, 1806; died in office, Sep- tember 10, 1812.
ASHBEL W. WALWORTH, 1812; removed 1829.
SAMUEL STARKWEATHER, 1829; resigned 1840.
GEORGE B. MERWIN, 1840.
WILLIAM MILFORD, 1841,
SMITH INGLEHART, 1845. C. L. RUSSELL, 1849.
ROBERT PARKS, 1853; died in office August 30th, 1860.
B. BROWNELL, 1860.
CHARLES L. BALLARD, April 1861.
JOHN C. GRANNIS, April, 1865.
EARLY LAKE CRAFT.
1679-Schooner Griffin, (French,) built at Cayuga creek, near Tonawanda.
1761-3-The Schooner Gladwyn, (British,) and a French vessel burnt on the Niagara river.
1785-6-Schooners Beaver and Mackinaw, belong- ing to the North West Fur Company. 30
458
EARLY LAKE CRAFT.
A vague tradition of a shipwreck which occurred near the mouth of the Cuyahoga has long been current here.
It was probably one of the above named vessels which was lost. While the Moravians were at Pilgerruh, Captain THORN, who commanded the schooner, speaks of visiting them and procuring provisions, where he saw for the first time the kittens of a wild cat. There was at the same time a trader at Rocky river. Mr. CARTER Saw the wreck of the schooner in his boyhood, 1797-8. Captain GAYLORD, who came to Cleveland in 1800 knew Capt. THORN very well, and often had from him the details, of the lonely winter he passed here after the shipwreck. It occurred late in the fall or early in winter, probably in December. The name of the vessel has been lost. According to Capt. GAYLORD's recollection, she was in company with another schooner, both of which were seeking for the mouth of the Cuyahoga, perhaps as a shelter from the coming storm. They were on their way up the lake with supplies for the British garrisons. Capt. THORN's vessel had on board some brass pieces for the Fort at Detroit, but the number of the guns is not well known, different accounts varying from one to three.
It was near night when they were enveloped in a snow storm, and were close in with the land. In he darkness of the night, driven by a furious winter
459
CAPT. THORN'S SHIPWRECK.
storm, Capt. THORN's vessel soon came ashore, not far from Johnson's run, which enters the lake near the Marine Hospital. The crew got safely ashore, and concluded to pass the winter on the spot. They built a cabin on the bank, near the corner of Clinton and Wilson streets, the remains of which were there in 1800 and in subsequent years. The guns were taken from the hold, and carried partly up the bank, wrapped in a sail, well greased, securely plugged, and buried beneath a leaning tree on one of the benches, or slips, of the shore.
When the first settlers came here, and even as late as 1830, there were evidences of the clearing which Captain THORN made around this cabin, in old stumps and in the second growth of timber. Capt. LORENZO CARTER, father of ALONZO, procured from the wreck, in the year 1807, the irons for the rudder of his new schooner the Zephyr.
Capt. LEVI JOHNSON says he procured spikes and bolts for one of his first vessels from the same place. A piece of iron from Capt. THORN's schooner is still to be seen forming the hinges, of Mr. CARTER's gate at his homestead at Newburg.
The guns were frequently sought after by the early settlers, but no trace of them has yet been found. No doubt the encroachment of the lake has left them long since beneath its waters, deep sunk in the quicksands of this shore.
Captain THORN was a Canadian, who in the war
460
LAKE CRAFT CONTINUED.
of 1812, took part with us, and afterwards lived to be a very old man at Point au Chene, on the St. Clair River, not far above lake St. Clair.
1796-Two British armed vessels.
1797-Schooner of sixty tons, Erie Pa., called the Washington. Cleared from Cuyahoga in the spring of 1806 and was never heard of afterwards.
1800-Schooner Harlequin, of Erie, lost in Octo- ber of the same year, and twenty persons, being all who were on board of her. Also the schooner Good Intent, 50 tons, which was lost off Point Abino in 1806.
1801-Schooner Adams, 150 tons, United States vessel built at River Rouge, near Detroit. Also the Tracy, of 70 tons, U. S. transport, wrecked on Bird Island reef, 1809.
Schooner Wilkinson, 80 tons, Detroit.
1804-Contractor, sloop, 50 tons, Black Rock, purchased by the United States in 1812; took part in the battle of Lake Erie under the name of the Trip. Cuyahoga Packet, sloop, 20 tons, Chagrin river. Schooner Lark, 20 tons, Grand river, Canada.
1805-A Government sloop of 60 tons, Cayuga creek, where the Griffin was built in 1679. Ranger, of 50 tons, St. Clair river.
1807-Schooner Mary, 120 tons, burnt by General Proctor in the Thames, 1813.
1808-Zephyr, Cleveland, burnt at Conjocketa creek, near Black rock.
1
461
PIONEER RIVER MEN.
1809-Schooner Catharine, 80 tons, Black Rock. In PERRY's battle, 1813, as the Somers. Charlotte, schooner, 90 tons, built some years previous; cap- tured at Mackinaw, 1812, as the Salina. Became ice locked among the islands in the winter of 1812- 13, and floating down opposite Erie, was stripped and burned.
1810-Schooner Ohio, 60 tons, Cleveland ; became a part of PERRY's fleet.
EARLY RIVER MEN.
As early as 1749 the Cuyahoga was regarded by geographers a point destined to be of commercial importance. [DOUGLASS's summary.] FRANKLIN pointed to its future value in 1765, recommending that it be occupied for military purposes. WASH- INGTON foresaw its consequence, while discussing a project for water communications between the lakes and Chesapeake Bay.
POWNALL and EVANS only knew of five rivers on the south shore of lake Erie, but they had the sagac- ity to discuss the project of a canal, allowing batteaux to pass into the waters of the Shenango and Maho- ning from "Cherage," (Conneaut) and from the Cuyahoga river .- [ POWNALL's account, 1756.]
It was this idea which FRANKLIN and WASHINGTON enlarged upon, as the mode, and the route, of the future inland commerce of the west. Batteaux once transferred, from the waters of lake Erie to those of
462
THE FIRST FORWARDERS.
the Ohio, were to be forced up its upper branches as far as possible into the mountains, and property thus transferred to the Atlantic rivers.
When the State of New York, began to agitate the plan of a rival route by way of Oswego river and the Mohawk, in 1793-4, the discussions of PowNALL, FRANKLIN, and WASHINGTON were renewed.
But we know of no permanent occupation for the usual purposes of trade, prior to 1786; when the British, although in a state of quasi war, drew their supplies from the United States. Their posts held on our own soil, in violation of the treaty of 1783, obtained provisions from Pennsylvania through this place .- [HILLMAN's letter. ]
From 1760 to this time, the French and British traders in furs were probably here, as there was no part of the country they did not penetrate. From 1786 to 1795, flour and beef were furnished to the military posts on the lakes, British and American, by way of Erie and Cleveland. DUNCAN & WILSON of Pittsburg, were the first forwarders who did busi- ness here, packing flour in bags upon horses, along the time-worn trails of the Indians.
When Gen. WAYNE overcame the north-western tribes at the Maumee rapids, in 1794, the enterpris- ing merchants of Pittsburg and Beaver, contracted to furnish supplies on the Maumee, by way of the Cuyahoga. The old Indian highway from Beaver to this place, became a notable thoroughfare along
463
BATTEAU NAVIGATION.
which ninety horses and thirty men, were continually passing. From this place goods and provisions were taken, sometimes in vessels or in batteaux, to the Maumee or Detroit, and sometimes through by land on horses.
The commercial importance of the mouth of the Cuyahoga was thus foreshadowed from the earliest days. It was on a nearer route from the valley of the Monongahela and the Potomac to the head of lake Erie, than the one by the Allegheny river and Presque Isle or Erie. The Muskingum and the Cuy- ahoga came so near together at Akron, that a portage of only seven miles was to be made with a light canoe, and then an almost interminable navigation might be pursued in all directions. These great natural routes being known to the early geographers and statesmen, led them to think of improvements here, and to predict great things for the future.
When the city was laid out, its future business was provided for by the landings intended for bat- teaux, by which it was expected the principal trans- portation would be effected. The "upper landing," at the foot of Vineyard lane, was for the up river business, and the "lower landing," where Mandrake and Union streets came to the river, now St. Clair street, was for the lake trade. General CLEAVELAND and the surveyors well knew that large vessels could not enter the river. Until 1827, when a harbor was constructed by the General Government, lake
464
SCHOONER ZEPHYR.
craft of all sizes worthy the name of a vessel, came to anchor outside and were unloaded by lighters. LORENZO CARTER engrossed most of this business in the early days of the settlement. In 1805 the mouth of the Cuyahoga was made a port of entry. Most of the traffic, prior to this time, was made in open boats, coasting along the shore. The surveyors' old cabin, CARTER's log shanty, and CAMPBELL's store, afforded more than warehouse room enough for the business. Those staunch, well-built batteaux, appear to have been capable of weathering the terrific gales of the lakes as bravely, as the sloops, schooners and steam- ers of later times. Accidents were no more common than they are now. The scheme for improving the Cuyahoga by means of a lottery, got up in 1807 has already been noticed. With all its disadvantages, this route crossing by land to the Tuscarawas and to the Mahoning, down those rivers, up the Ohio and its branches to the Potomac, and down it to the ocean, was thought to be a competitor with the one by way of Niagara, Oswego, Fort Stanwix and the Mohawk.
In 1808, Mr. CARTER built the "Zephyr," of 30 tons, intended particularly for the trade of this place. Salt, iron, leather, groceries and dry goods were the principal needs of the settlers, in return for which they collected furs and made grindstones, to be sent east in payment. MURRAY & BIXBY built the Ohio, of 60 tons, in 1810, which was launched near the
465
CARTER'S WAREHOUSE.
warehouse of PETTIT & HOLLAND. About this time CARTER built a log warehouse on the bank of the lake between Meadow and Spring streets, where he received and discharged property until after the war of 1812, when it was undermined by a rise in the waters of the lake. The brothers ELIAS and HARVEY MURRAY erected another in 1811, which stood within the point on the river bank, where the new channel or harbor is now. Not far from this time, some per- son not yet identified, built a small log house for storage on the east bank, a short distance south of Superior street. LEVI JOHNSON built the Pilot in 1813. About the year 1816 the first frame ware- house was built by LEONARD CASE and Capt. WIL-
LIAM GAYLORD. It stood a little north of St. Clair street, on the river. In 1817 or 1818 LEVI JOHNSON and Dr. DAVID LONG put up another, a short distance lower on this shore, northward of CASE & GAYLORD, and soon after a third was erected near them by JOHN BLAIR. Of these early and enterprising for- warders, JOHNSON and BLAIR still survive. From BLAIR's warehouse down the river, to the point of ground on which the MURRAY's built, was then an impassable marsh. ALONZO CARTER purchased land on the West Side, soon after the township of Brook- lyn came into market. He built a tavern and a small warehouse on that side, opposite Superior street. The ferry crossed at this street which was kept by CHRISTOPHER GUN.
466
CLEVELAND PIER COMPANY.
In 1816 an attempt was made to build a pier on the open lake. For this purpose an act of incorpo- ration was procured and an association formed under the name and style of the "Cleveland Pier Com- pany," as follows :
We, the undersigned, hereby covenant and agree to associate and form ourselves into a company, to be known and distinguished by the name and title of the "Cleveland Pier Company," for the purpose of erecting a pier at, or near the village of Cleveland, for the accommodation of vessels navigating lake Erie. Agreeable to an act of the Legislature of the of the State of Ohio, passed at their session in 1815 -16, authorizing the incorporating of a company for the aforesaid purposes.
ALONZO CARTER,
GEORGE WALLACE,
A. W. WALWORTH,
DARIUS E. HENDERSON,
DAVID LONG,
SAM'L WILLIAMSON, Sen.,
ALFRED KELLEY, IRAD KELLEY,
DATUS KELLEY,
JAMES KINGSBURY,
EBEN HOSMER, HORACE PERRY,
DANIEL KELLEY, LEVI JOHNSON.
Something was done towards this pier, principally by Mr. KELLEY. These slight works, based upon quicksand, and constructed without the aid of pile drivers, withstood the fury of the lake storms but a short time. About this time the late CHAS. M. GID- DINGS became an importer of salt, from his home at Onondaga to the western lakes. After a few years he became a citizen of Cleveland, where he pursued
467
THE FIRST CANAL BOAT.
a business career of surprising activity, so long as his health allowed him to participate in business.
In February, 1816, NOBLE H. MERWIN, with his family, arrived at Cleveland, direct from Connecticut He purchasedt he tavern stand of GEORGE WALLACE, on the corner of Superior street and Vineyard lane, and a tract between Superior and Vineyard lanes, extending to Division street, now Center street. He occupied his hotel, afterwards known as the "Man- sion House," but became extensively interested in vessel stock, transportation, army contracts, and com. mercial business generally. A log warehouse had been erected on his property, near the foot of Supe- rior street, which he continued to occupy for the purpose of storage and forwarding. When the Ohio canal was made navigable to Akron, the two lower locks were incomplete. Mr. MERWIN had the canal packet "Pioneer," brought from Buffalo, and taking her up the river, near where the stone mills are now, hauled her up the bank into the canal. On this boat the Cleveland party went to meet Gov. TRIMBLE, and the party from Akron, consisting of the Canal Commissioners and other celebrities on the boat " Allen Trimble." Mr. MERWIN died at St. Thomas, West Indies, in October, 1829, leaving his first purchase unimpaired to his heirs.
The site of the old log warehouse has became tra- ditional in the commerce of Cleveland. GIDINGS & MERWIN, GIDINGS & BALDWIN, GIDINGS, BALDWIN &
468
PENNSYLVANIA WAGONS.
PEASE, and GRIFFITH, PEASE & Co., were firms whose names appeared successively upon the sides of the warehouses located there. A fire which occurred about 1854 destroyed the entire row of buildings from Superior street to the canal.
In 1819, JOHN BLAIR became a river man, compet- ing with GIDINGS & MERWIN, in the purchase of wheat.
In those days wheat, pork, flour, potash, and in fact, all the merchantable produce of the country was brought in by four or six horse teams, laboring slowly onward, through roads that would now be regarded impassible, the owners encamping by the road side, wherever night found them. When the Ohio Canal was projected our citizens, and particu- larly the produce dealers, indulged in the gloomiest anticipations. No more Pennsylvania teams with their sturdy horses, and covered wagons, would enliven the streets of Cleveland. If Painesville, Black River or Sandusky wanted a canal, they were welcome to it.
Mr. BLAIR and LEVI JOHNSON are the only survi- vors of those early forwarders, who viewed the ap- proach of a Conestoga wagon with so much interest. When experience had shown that the canal did not prove to be the ruin of the place, they turned their enterprise into new channels. The General Govern- ment constructed a harbor while the State was excavating the canal. Sail vessels, steamboats and
I
469
CLEVELAND AS A VILLAGE.
canal boats, became more plenty than the wagons had ever been. A race of active young men suc-, ceeded the pioneers on the dock. Such of the original members of the Land Company as survived, at last witnessed in the decline of life, the success of the projects of their youth.
PRESIDENTS OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEVELAND.
Under the charter incorporating the village of Cleveland, dated December 23d, 1814, the first elec- tion took place on the first Monday in June, 1815. There were twelve votes cast at this election, which were given unanimously for the following officers :
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