USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio, containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its general and local history : with descriptions of its counties, principal towns, and villages > Part 22
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Erie, Huron, and a small part of Ottawa counties comprise that portion of the Western Reserve known as "the fire-lands," being a tract of about 500,000 acres, granted by the State of Connecticut to the sufferers by fire from the British in their incursions into that State.§ The history which follows of the fire-lands and the settle-
* These facts are derived from the beautiful " tradition of the Eries," published in the Buffalo Commercial, in the summer of 1845. That tradition (says the editor) "may be implicitly relied upon, every detail having been taken from the lips of Blacksnake and other venerable chiefs of the Senecas and Tonawandas, who still cherish the traditions of their fathers."
t Lanman's Michigan.
# Whittlesey's address on Boquet's expedition.
§ For some facts connected with the history of the fire-lands, see sketch of the Western Reserve, to be found elsewhere in this volume.
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ment of this county, is from the Mss. history of the fire-lands, by the late C. B. Squier, Esq., of Sandusky City.
The largest sufferers, and, consequently, those who held the largest interest in the fire-lands, purchased the rights of many who held smaller interests. The proprietors of the fire-lands, anxious that their new territory should be settled, offered strong inducements for persons to settle in this then unknown region. But, aside from the ordinary difficulties attending a new settlement, the Indian title to the western part of the reserve was not then extinguished; but by a treaty held at Fort Industry, on the Maumee, in July, 1805, this object was accomplished, and the east line of the Indian territory was established on the west line of the reserve.
The proprietors of the fire-lands were deeply interested in this treaty, upon the result of which depended their ability to possess and settle their lands. Consequently, the Hon. Isaac Mills, secretary of the company, with others interested, left Connecticut to be present at these negotiations. Cleveland was the point first designated for holding the treaty. But upon their arrival, it was ascertained that the influence of the British agents among the Indians was so great as to occasion them to refuse to treat with the agents of the United States, unless they would come into their own territory, on the Miami of the Lakes, as the Maumee was then termed. Having arrived at the Maumee, they found several agents of the British government among the Indians, using every possible effort to prevent any nego- tiation whatever, and it was fifteen or twenty days before they could bring them to any reasonable terms. Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, the settlements commenced upon the fire-lands.
It is quite difficult to ascertain who the first settlers were upon the fire-lands. As early, if not prior to the organization of the state, several persons had squatted upon the lands, at the mouth of the streams and near the shore of the lake, led a hunter's life and trafficked with the Indians. But they were a race of wanderers and gradually disappeared before the regular progress of the settlements. Those devoted missionaries, the Moravians, made a settlement, which they called New Salem, as early as 1790, on Huron river, about two miles below Milan, on the Hathaway farm. They afterwards settled at Milan.
The first regular settlers upon the fire-lands were Col. Jerard Ward, who came in the spring of 1808, and Almon Ruggles and Jabez Wright, in the autumn succeeding. Ere the close of the next year, quite a number of families had settled in the townships of Huron, Florence, Berlin, Oxford, Margaretta, Portland and Vermillion. These early settlers gen- erally erected the ordinary log cabin, but others of a wandering character built bark huts, which were made by driving a post at each of the four corners and one higher between each of the two end corners, in the middle, to support the roof, which were connected to- gether by a ridge pole. Layers of bark were wound around the side of the posts, each upper layer lapping the one beneath to shed rain. The roof was barked over, strips being bent across from one eave over the ridge pole to the other and secured by poles on them. The occupants of these bark huts were squatters, and lived principally by hunting. They were the semi-civilized race that usually precedes the more substantial pioneer in the western wilderness.
For two or three years previous to the late war, the inhabitants were so isolated from other settlements that no supplies could be had, and there was much suffering for want of food and clothing ; at times, whole families subsisted for weeks together on nothing but parched and pounded corn, with a very scanty supply of wild meat. Indeed, there was not a family in the fire-lands, between 1809 and '15, who did not keenly feel the want of both food and clothing. Wild meat, it is true, could usually be procured ; but living on this alone would much enfeeble and disease any one but an Indian or a hunter accustomed to it for years.
For even several years after the war, raccoon caps, with the fur outside, and deerskin jackets and pantaloons, were almost universally worn. The deerskin pantaloons could not be very well tanned, and when dried, after being wet, were hard and inflexible : when thrown upon the floor they bounded and rattled like tin kettles. A man, in a cold winter's morning, drawing on a pair, was in about as comfortable a position as if thrusting his limbs into a couple of frosty stove pipes.
To add to the trials and hardships of the early settlers, it soon became very sickly, and remained so for several years. The following is but one of the many touching scenes of privation and distress that might be related :
A young man with his family settled not far from the Huron river, building his cabin in the thick woods, distant from any other settlement. During the summer, he cleared a small patch, and in the fall, became sick and died. Soon after, a hunter on his way home, pass-
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ing by the clearing, saw every thing still about the cabin, mistrusted all was not right, and knocked at the door to inquire. A feeble voice bade him enter. Opening the door he was startled by the appearance of the woman, sitting by the fire, pale, emaciated, and holding a puny, sickly babe! He immediately inquired their health. She burst into tears and was unable to answer. The hunter stood for a moment aghast at the scene. The woman, re- covering from her gush of sorrow, at length raised her head and pointed towards the bed, saying, " there is my little Edward-I expect he is dying-and here is my babe, so sick I canmot lay it down ; I am so feeble I can scarcely remain in my chair, and my poor husband lies buried beside the cabin !" and then, as if frantic by the fearful recital, she exclaimed in a tone of the deepest anguish, " Oh ! that I was back to my own country, where I could fall into the arms of my mother !" Tears of sympathy rolled down the weather-beaten cheeks of the iron-framed hunter as he rapidly walked away for assistance. It was a touching scene.
A majority of the inhabitants of this period were of upright characters ; bold, daring and somewhat restless, but generous-minded. Although enduring great privations, much hap- piness fell to the kind of life they were leading. One of them says : " When I look back upon the first few years of our residence here, I am led to exclaim, O! happy days of prim- itive simplicity ! What little aristocratic feeling any one might have brought with him was soon quelled, for we soon found ourselves equally dependent on one another ; and we en- joyed our winter evenings around our blazing hearths in our log huts cracking nuts full as well, aye! much better than has fallen to our lots since the distinctions and animosities consequent upon the acquisition of wealth have crept in among us."
Another pioneer says: " In illustration of that old saw,
' A man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long,'
I relate the following. A year or two after we arrived, a visit was got up by the ladies, in order to call on a neighboring family who lived a little out of the common way. The hostess was very much pleased to see them, and immediately commenced preparing the. usual treat on such occasions-a cup of tea and its accompaniments. As she had but one fire-proof vessel in the house, an old broken bake kettle, it, of course, must take some time. In the first place, some pork was tried up in the kettle to get lard --- secondly, some cakes were made and fried in it-thirdly, some shortcakes were made in it-fourthly, it was used as a bucket to draw water-fifthly, the water was heated in it, and sixthly and lastly, the tea was put in and a very sociable dish of tea they had. In those good old times, per- fectly fresh to my recollection, the young men asked nothing better than buckskin pantaloons to go a courting in, and the young ladies were not too proud to go to meeting barefoot."
The following little anecdote illustrates the intrepidity of a lady in indulging her social feelings. A gentleman settled with his family about two miles west of the Vermillion river without a neighbor near him. Soon after, a man and wife settled on the opposite side of the river, three miles distant ; the lady on the west side was very anxious to visit her stranger neighbor on the east, and sent her a message setting a day when she should make her visit, and at the time appointed went down to cross the river with her husband, but found it so swollen with recent rains as to render it impossible to cross on foot. There was no canoe or horse in that part of the country. The obstacle was apparently insur- mountable. Fortunately the man on the other side was fertile in expedients ; he yoked up his oxen, anticipating the event, and arrived at the river just as the others were about to leave. Springing upon the back of one of the oxen he rode him across the river, and when he had reached the west bank, the lady, Europa-like, as fearlessly sprang on the back of the other ox, and they were both borne across the raging waters, and safely landed upon the opposite bank ; and when she had concluded her visit, she returned in the same man- ner. The lady still lives on the same spot, and is noted for her goodness of heart, and cul- tivated manners.
Early in the settlement of the fire-lands the landholders injudiciously raised the price of land to $5 per acre. The lands belonging to the general government on the west were opened for sale at $2 per acre ; immigration ceased, and as most of the settlers had bought their land on a credit, the hard times which followed the last war pressed severely upon them, and the settlements languished. Money was so scarce in 1820 and 1822, that even those who had their farms paid for, were in the practice of laying up sixpences and shillings for many months to meet their taxes. All kinds of trade was carried on by barter. Many settlers left their improvements and removed further west, finding themselves unable to pay for their lands.
The first exports of produce of any consequence commenced in 1817; in 1818 the arti- cle of salt was $8 per barrel ; flour was then $10, and a poor article at that.
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There was no market for several years beyond the wants of the settlers, which was suf- ficient to swallow up all the surplus products of the farmer ; but when such an outlet was wanted, it was found at Detroit, Monroe, and the other settlements in the upper regions of Lake Erie. As to the commercial advantages, there was a sufficient number of vessels on the lake to do the business of the country, which was done at the price of $2,50 per barrel bulk, from Buffalo to this place, a distance of 250 miles. Now goods are transported from New York to Sandusky City as low as forty-seven cents per hundred, or $9 per ton. Most kinds of merchandize sold at a sale corresponding to the prices of freight. Domestic shirtings from fifty to sixty-two cents per yard ; satinets $2,50 to $3,50 do .; green teas $1,50 to $2,50 per lb .; brown sugar from twenty-five to thirty cents per lb .; loaf do. from forty to fifty per do., etc., etc. Butter was worth twenty-five cents, and corn $1,00 per bushel. As to wheat there was scarcely a price known for some of the first years, the inhabitants mostly depended on buying flour by the barrel on account of the want of mills.
The Indians murdered several of the inhabitants in the fire-lands. One of the most bar- barous murders was committed in the spring of 1812, upon Michael Gibbs and one Buel, who lived together in a cabin about a mile southeast of the present town of Sandusky. The murderers were two Indians named Semo and Omic. The whites went in pursuit of them ; Omic was taken to Cleveland, tried, found guilty and executed. Semo was after- wards demanded of his tribe, and they were about to give him up, when, anticipating his fate, he gave the war-whoop, and shot himself through the heart.
In the late war, previous to Perry's victory, the inhabitants were in much dread of the In- dians. Some people upon Huron river were captured by them ; and also at the head of Cold creek, where a Mrs. Putnam and a whole family by the name of Snow (the man excepted) were attacked. Mrs. Snow and one little child:was cruelly butchered, and the rest taken captive, together with a Mrs. Butler and a girl nanied Page, and carried to Canada. They were, however, released or purchased by the whites a few months after. Other depreda- tions and murders were committed by the savages.
SANDUSKY CITY, the county seat, is situated on Sandusky bay, 105 miles north of Columbus, and 60 from Cleveland and Detroit. Its situation is pleasant, rising gradually from the lake, and commanding a fine view of it. The town is based upon an inexhaustible quarry of the finest limestone, which is not only used in building elegant and substantial edifices in the town, but is an extensive article of ex- port. A few hundred yards back from the lake is a large and hand- some public square, on which, fronting the lake, are the principal churches and public buildings.
The first permanent settlement at Sandusky City was made in June, 1817, at which time the locality was called Ogontz place, from an Indian chief who resided here previous to the war of 1812. The town was laid out under the name of Portland in 1817, by its pro- prietors, Hon. Zalmon Wildman of Danbury, Ct., and Hon. Isaac Mills of New Haven, in the same state. On the first of July of that year, a small store of goods was opened by Moores Farwell, in the employment of Mr. Wildman. The same building is now stand- ing on the bay shore, and is occupied by Mr. West. There were at this time but two log huts in the place besides the store, which was a frame, and had been erected the year previous. One of the huts stood on the site of the Verandah hotel, and the other some sixty rods east. The first frame dwelling was erected by Wm. B. Smith in the fall of 1817, the second soon after by Cyrus W. Marsh, and a third in the succeeding spring by Moores Farwell. The Methodist Episcopal church, a small frame building, and the first built, was erected in 1830; the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in 1835; the Wesleyan chapel in 1836, and the rest since.
Sandusky City contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 Congregational,
20
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1 Reformed Methodist, 1 Catholic and 1 German Lutheran church, 1 high school, a large number of dry goods and grocery stores, sev- eral forwarding and commission houses, 2 furnaces, 1 oil mill, 2 ex- tensive machine shops for the manufacture of the iron for railroad cars, 2 printing offices, 2 banks, and a population estimated at
Map
J. Brainerd
Milan from near the Sandusky City Road.
3000. This town is now very thriving, and promises to be, ere many years, a large city. A great impetus has been given to its prosper- ity by the construction of two railroads which terminate here ; the first the Mad River and Little Miami railroad connect it with Cin- cinnati; the other connects it with Mansfield, from which place it is constructing through Mount Vernon and Newark to Columbus : a branch will diverge from Newark to Zanesville. This last is one of the best built railroads in the country, and is doing a very heavy transportation business. The commerce of Sandusky City is heavy, and constantly increasing. The arrivals at this port in 1846 were 447, clearances 441 ; and 843,746 bushels of wheat were among the articles exported.
On the farm of Isaac A. Mills, west of the town, are some ancient works and mounds. In the late Canadian "patriot war," this city was a rendezvous for "patriots ;" they had an action on the ice near Point-au-Pelee island with British cavalry in the winter of 1838. They were under Captain Bradley of this city, who has since com- manded a company of volunteers in the war with Mexico. In this action the "patriots" behaved with cool bravery, and although at- tacked by a superior force, delivered their fire with steadiness, and repelled their enemy with considerable loss.
Twelve miles from Sandusky City, and eight from Lake Erie is the flourishing town of Milan, in the township of the same name. It stands upon a .commanding bluff on the right bank of Huron river. The above engraving shows its appearance from a hill west of the road to Sandusky City, and a few rods back of Kneeland Towns-
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end's old distillery building, which appears n front. In the middle ground is shown the Huron river and the canal ; on the right the bridge across the river ; on the hill, part of the town appears, with the tower of the Methodist, and spire of the Presbyterian church.
Below we give in a communication from the Rev. E. Judson, of Milan, a historical and descriptive sketch of the village and township:
On the spot where the town of Milan now stands, there was, at the time of the survey of the fire-lands, in 1807, an Indian village, containing within it a Christian community, un- der the superintendance of Rev. Christian Frederic Dencké, a Moravian missionary. The Indian name of the town was Petquotting. The mission was established here in 1804. Mr. Dencké brought with him several families of Christian Indians, from the vicinity of the Thames river, in Upper Canada. They had a chapel and a mission house, and were making good progress in the cultivation of Christian principles, when the commencement of the white settlements, induced them, in 1809, to emigrate with their missionary to Canada. There was a Moravian mission attempted as early as 1787. A considerable party of Christian Indians had been driven from their settlement at Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas river, by the inhuman butchery of a large number of the inhabitants by the white settlers. After years of wandering, with Zeisberger for their spiritual guide, they at length formed a home on the banks of the Cuyahoga river, near Cleveland, which they named Pilgerruh, (" Pil- grini's rest.") They were soon driven from this post, whence they came to the Huron, and commenced a settlement on its east bank, and near the north line of the township. To this village they gave the name of New Salein. Here the labors of their indefatigable mission- ary, were crowned with very considerable success. They were soon compelled to leave, however, by the persecutions of the pagan Indians. It seems to have been a portion of these exiles who returned, in 1804, to commence the new mission.
The ground on both sides of the Huron river, through the entire length of the township, is distinctly marked at short intervals, by the remains of a former race. Mounds and en- closures, both circular and angular, some of which have strongly marked features, occur at different points along the river.
The land in the township of Milan, was brought into market in 1808. In the summer of the following year, David Abbott purchased 1800 acres, in the northeast section of the township, and lying on both sides of the Huron, for the purpose of commencing a settle- ment. He removed here, with his family, in 1810. Jared Ward purchased a part of Mr. Abbott's tract, and removed here, in 1809. He was the first " actual white settler," who had an interest in the soil. The progress of the settlement was at first rapid. When hos- tilities with Great Britain commenced, in 1812, there were within the township twenty three families, and about forty persons capable of bearing arms. The progress of the settlement was interrupted by the war, and few or no emigrants arrived between 1812 and 1816. This interruption was not the only evil experienced by the inhabitants. The British, in the early part of the war, commanded Lake Erie, and could at any moment make a descent upon the place. Many of the Indians were hostile, and were supposed to be instigated to acts of cruelty, by the willingness of the British commander at Fort Malden, to purchase the scalps of American citizens. Occasional outrages were perpetrated ; houses were burned, and in a few instances individuals were murdered in cold blood, while others were taken prisoners. Near the southwestern corner of the township, at a place known as the Parker farm,-from its having been first purchased and occupied by Charles Parker,-there was a block-house, used as a place of resort during the war. A military guard was kept here. Two young men, apprehensive of no immediate danger, on a pleasant morning, in the fall of 1812, left the block-house and wandered to the distance of a mile, for the pur- pose of collecting honey from a " bee tree." While in the act of cutting down the tree, they were surprised by the Indians, who, it seems, had been for sometime watching for their prey ; one of them named Seymour, was killed on the spot ; the other was recognized by one of the Indians, made a captive and treated kindly. The Indian who captured him, had been a frequent guest in the family where the young man had resided.
Sometime previous two men, Buell and Gibbs, had been murdered by the Indians, near Sandusky. Thirteen persons, women and children, had been captured near the present village of Castalia, some six miles to the westward of Sandusky. Of these, five, most of whom belonged to the family of D. P. Snow, were massacred. All the men belonging to the settlement were absent at the time of the massacre. These repeated butcheries, sup- posed at the time to be instigated by the British commander at Fort Malden, whither the scalps of all who were murdered were carried, kept the people of Milan in a constant state of
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alarm. In August, Gen. Hull surrendered Detroit to the British, and from this time to the achievement of Perry's victory, in September of the following year, the inhabitants were in constant apprehension for their personal safety. The sighing of the breeze, and the dis- charge of the hunter's rifle, alike startled the wife and the mother, as she trembled for her absent husband, or her still more defenceless " little one." During this interval, General Simon Perkins, of Warren, with a regiment of militia, had been stationed at" Fort Avery," a fortification hastily thrown up on the east bank of the Huron river, about a mile and a half north of the present town of Milan ; but the inexperience of the militia, and the con- stant presence in the neighborhood of scouting parties of Indians, whom no vigilance could detect, and no valor defeat, rendered the feeling of insecurity scarcely less than before. Some left the settlements, not to return till peace was restored. Those who remained were compelled, at frequent intervals, to collect in the fort for safety, or made sudden flights to the interior of the state, or to the more populous districts in the vicinity of Cleveland, where a few days of quiet would so far quell their fears as to lead them to return to their homes, to be driven off again by fresh alarms. With the return of peace, in 1815, prosperity was restored to the settlements, and the emigration was very considerable. The emigrants were almost exclusively of the New England stock, and the establishment of common schools and the organization of Christian churches, were among the earliest fruits of their enter- prising spirit. The town of Milan was " laid out" in 1816, by Ebenezer Merry, who had two years previously removed to its township. Mr. Merry was a native of West Hart- ford, in Connecticut, and by liis example contributed much, as the proprietor of the town, to promote good morals among the early inhabitants. He took measures immediately for the erection of a flouring mill and saw mill, which contributed materially to the improve- ment of the town, and were of great service to the infant settlements in the vicinity. In the first settlement of the place, grain was carried more than fifty miles down the lake in open boats, to be ground ; and sometimes from points more in the interior, on the shoulders of a father, whose power of endurance was greatly heightened by the anticipated smiles of a group of little ones, whose subsistence for weeks together had been venison and hommony.
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