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 40
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When the settlers first came, there were two wells, only a few rods apart, on the south bank of Vernon river, on the edge of the town, the origin of which remains unknown. They were built of neatly hammered stone, laid in regular masonry, and had the appear- ance of being overgrown with moss. Near by, was a salt lick, at which the Indians had been accustomed to encamp. Almost imme- diately after the first settlement, all traces of the wells were oblite- rated, as was supposed, by the Indians. A similar well was later brought to light, a mile and a half distant, by the plow of Philip Cosner, while plowing in a newly cleared piece of forest land. It was covered with poles and earth, and was about 30 feet deep.
In the spring of 1807, Gilman Bryant opened the first store in Mt. Vernon, in a small sycamore cabin, in the western part of the town. A hewed log and shingle-roofed building stood on the northeast cor- ner of Wood and Main streets : it was the first tavern, and was kept by Benj. Butler. The first frame building was put up in 1809, and is now standing on lot 138 Main street. The old court-house, erected about 1810, opposite the present court-house, on the public square,
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KNOX COUNTY.
was the first brick building : it was two stories high, and thirty-six feet square. The first brick building was erected in the spring of 1815, by Gilman Bryant, now standing next to and south of his pre- sent residence. The first church, the old school Presbyterian, (now down,) was built about 1817. It was of brick, 40 feet square, and one story high: the first pastor was the Rev. James Scott. The first licensed preacher in the county was the Rev. Wm. Thrift, a Baptist, from Loudon county, Va., who came in 1807, and travelled about from house to house. The first crops raised in the county were corn and potatoes. They were grown on the bottom lands, which were the first cleared : those lands were too rich for wheat, making " sick wheat," so termed, because when made into bread, it had the effect of an emetic, and produced feelings similar to sea-sickness.
At an early day, the Indians, in great numbers, came to Mount Vernon to trade. They encamped on the river bank, and brought large quantities of furs and cranberries to dispose of for goods. The whites of the present day might take some beneficial hints from their method of trading at the store in this place. They walked in de- liberately and seated themselves, upon which the merchant presented each with a small piece of tobacco. Having lighted their pipes, they returned the residue to their pouches. These were made of a whole mink skin, dressed with the hair on, with a slit cut in the throat, as an opening. In it, they kept, also, some kinnickinnick bark, or sumach, which they always smoked with their tobacco, in the proportion of about three of the former to one of the lat- ter. After smoking and talking awhile together, one only at a time arose, went to the counter, and, taking up a yard stick, pointed to the first article he desired, and inquired the price. The questions were in this manner : " how many buckskins for a shirt pattern ?" or " cloth for leggings ?" &c. According to their skin currency,
A muskrat skin was equal to a quarter of a dollar ; a raccoon skin, a third of a dollar ; a doe skin, half a dollar, and a buck skin, " the almighty dollar." The Indian, learning the price of an article, payed for it by picking out and handing over the skins, before proceed- ing to purchase the second, when he repeated the process, and so on through the whole, paying for every thing as he went on, and never waiting for that purpose until he had finished. While the first Indian was trading, the others looked uninterruptedly on, and when he was through, another took his place, and so on, in rotation, until all had traded. No one desired to trade before his turn, and all observed a proper decorum, and never at- tempted to " beat down," but, if dissatisfied with the price, passed on to the next article. They were cautious not to trade while intoxicated ; but usually preserved some of their skins to buy liquor, and end their visit with a frolic ..
The early settlers in the town all felt as one family. If one got a piece of fresh meat, he shared it with his neighbors, and when a person was sick, all sympathized. At night, the; met in each other's cabins, to talk, dance, and take a social glass. There was no distinc- tion of party, for it was a social democracy. At their weddings, a puncheon table, formed like a bench, without a cloth, was covered with refreshments. These were plain and simple : wild turkeys, that had been gobbling about in the woods, were stewed and eaten with a relish ; corn, that had grown on the river flats, made into " pone," served as wed- ding cake ; while metheglin and whiskey, the only articles probably not indigenous, were the beverages that washed them down. Their plates were either of wood or pewter, per- haps both, and no two alike ; their knives, frequently butcher knives, and their forks often of wood. A dance was the finale of their festivities. They made merry on the puncheon floor to the music of the fiddle. Cotillions were unknown, while jigs, four-handed reels, the double shuffle and break down " were all the rage."
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After Mount Vernon was laid out, the settlers from the region round about were accus- omed to come into town on Saturdays, to clear the stumps out of the streets. Early in she afternoon they quitted work, and grew jolly over a large kettle of " stew." This was made as follows : First, a huge kettle, of gallons' capacity, was placed upon the ground, resting upon three stones, and a fire kindled under it. In it was put two or three buckets of water, a few pounds of maple sugar, a few ounces of allspice, which had been pounded in a rag, a pound of butter, and, finally, two or three gallons of whiskey. When boiled, the stew was taken off, a circle was formed around, and the men helped themselves liberally, with tin cups, to the liquor, told hunting stories, wrestled, ran, hopped and jumped, engaged in foot races, shot at mark for goods or tobacco purchased at the store, and occasionally enlivened the scene by a fight.
Upon the organization of the county, there was a spirit of rivalry as to which should be the county seat, Mount Vernon or Clinton, a town laid out a mile and a half north, by Samuel Smith -- then a place of the most population, now among the " things that were." The commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice, first entered Mount Vernon, and were received with the best cheer, at the log tavern of Mr. Butler. To impress them with an idea of the public spirit of the place, the people were very busy at the moment of their entrance and during their stay, at work, all with their coats off, grubbing the streets. As they left for Clinton, all quitted their labor, not " of love ;" and some rowdies, who dwelt in cabins scattered round about in the woods, away from the town, left "the crowd," and stealing ahead of the commissioners, arrived at Clinton first. On the arrival of the others at that place, these fellows pretended to be in a state not comformable to temperance prin- ciples, ran against the commissioners, and by their rude and boisterous conduct, so disgusted the worthy officials as to the apparent morals of the inhabitants of Clinton, that they re- turned and made known their determination that Mount Vernon should be the favored spot. That night, there were great rejoicings in town. Bonfires were kindled, stew made and drank, and live trees split with gunpowder.
The first settler north of Mount Vernon, was Nathaniel M. Young, from Pa., who, in 1803, built a cabin on the south fork of Vernon river, three miles west of Fredericktown. Mr. Young and his neighbors being much troubled with wolves, got together and made a written agreement to give nine bushels of corn for every wolf's scalp. In the winter of 1805-6, Mr. Young, John Lewis and James Bryant caught forty-one wolves, in steel traps and pens. Wolf pens were about 6 feet long, 4 wide and 3 high, formed like a huge square box, of small logs, and floored with puncheons. The lid, also of puncheons, was very heavy, and moved by an axle at one end, made of a small, round stick. The trap was set by a figure four, with any kind of meat except that of wolf's, the animals being fonder of any other than their own. On gnawing the meat, the lid fell and enclosed the unamiable na- tive. Often, to have sport for the dogs, they pulled out the legs of a wolf through the crevices of the logs, hamstrung, and then let him loose, upon which the dogs sprang upon him, while he, crippled by the operation, made but an ineffectual resistance. In the ad- joining county of Delaware, a man, somewhat advanced in years, went into a wolf-trap to render the adjustment of the spring more delicate, when the trap sprung upon him, and, knocking him flat on his face, securely caught him as was ever any of the wolf species. He was unable to lift up the lid, and several miles from any house. There he lay all one day and night, and would have perished had not a passing hunter heard his groans and relieved him from his peril.
Mount Vernon, the county seat, is 45 miles NE. of Columbus. It is beautifully situated on ground slightly ascending from Vernon river. The town is compactly and substantially built, and some of the dwellings elegant. Main, the principal business street, is about a mile in length, on which are many brick blocks, three stories in neight. The view was taken in this street, at the southern extremity of the public square, looking north : on the left is shown the market and court-house, on the right, the Episcopal church, an elegant stone edifice, and in the centre, the tower of the old school Presbyterian church and the jail. This flourishing town contains 2 Presbyterian, 2 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Catholic and 1 Episcopal church, 20 dry goods, 6 grocery, 2 hardware, 3 apothecary and 2 book stores ; 1 fulling, 4 grist and 5 saw mills, 3 newspaper printing offices,
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and had, in 1840, 2,363 inhabitants, and has now over 3,000. The railroad, constructing from Sandusky City to Columbus, will connect this place with those.
STOVES
Public Square, Mount Vernon.
Five miles east of Mount Vernon, on a beautiful, healthy and ele- vated ridge, encompassed on three sides by the Vernon river, is the village of Gambier, so named from lord Gambier, and widely known as the seat of Kenyon college. This town, exclusive of the college, contains about 200 inhabitants. It was laid out under the auspices of the venerable Bishop Chase, in July, 1826, in the center of a 4,000 acre tract, belonging to Kenyon college. This institution was then founded, with funds obtained by Bishop Chase in England, and named after lord Kenyon, one of its principal benefactors. It was first chartered as a theological seminary. It is richly endowed, having 8,000 acres of land, and its property is valued at $100,000. The college proper has about 50 students; the theological seminary about 20; the senior grammar school about 20, and Milnor Hall, an insti- tute for boys, about 25. In the various libraries are near 10,000 volumes.
The main college building is romantically situated. You enter a gate into a large area: in the foreground is a large grassy, cleared plat of several acres, on the right of which stands Rosse chapel, an elegant Grecian structure ; on the left and below, is the beautiful Vernon valley, bounded by forest-clad hills, over which the eye passes in the perspective for miles and miles, until the blue of dis- tant hills and sky meet and blend in one. Through the centre of the grassy plat passes a footpath, which, at the distance of 200 yards, continues its straight line in a narrow opening through a forest, and terminates at the college, about one third of a mile distant, the spire of which rises darkly above the green foliage, like that of an ancient abbey, while the main building is mostly concealed. The
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KNOX COUNTY.
whole scene, the graceful, cheerful architecture of the chapel, on the right, the valley on the left, the pleasant, grassy green in front, the forest beyond, with the sombre, half-concealed building in the dis- tance, give an ever-enduring impression. Standing at the gate, with
Kenyon College.
the back to the college, the scene changes: a broad avenue termi- nates at the distance of half a mile, at the head of which, in a com- manding position, faces Bexley Hall, a building appropriated to the theological seminary. It is a large, elegant, and highly ornamented Gothic structure, of a light color, with battlements and turrets, stand- ing boldly relieved against the blue sky, except its lower portion, where it is concealed by the shrubbery of a spacious yard in front. To the left, and near the Hall, an imposing residence, late occupied by Bishop M'Ilvaine, faces the avenue. Away off to the right, among the trees, is Milnor Hall, and scattered about in various directions, near and far, private dwellings, offices and various struc- tures, some plain and others adorned, some in full view and others partly hid by the undulations of the ground, trees and shrubbery.
Fredericktown is a flourishing and well-built village, 7 miles NW. of Mount Vernon, which was laid out in 1807, by John Kerr. Ver- non river, on which it is situated, furnishes considerable water power : on the middle branch of that stream, near the village, are some ancient fortifications and mounds. The town contains 2 Pres- byterian, 2 Methodist and 1 Universalist church; 8 dry goods and 1 grocery store, 2 grist, 2 saw, 2 carding and 2 fulling mills, and had, in 1840, 444 inhabitants-since which, it has increased. Ches- terville, .12 miles Nw. from Mount Vernon, on Vernon river, has 2 churches, 5 stores, 2 flouring mills, and atout 400 inhabitants. Martinsburgh, 12 SE. of the county seat, on the Zanesville road, has 4 stores, 2 churches, an excellent academy, and about 400 inhabi- tants. Millwood, Bladensburgh, Amity, Danville, Centerburg, Mt. Liberty, Sparta, Palmyra and Mount Holly, are villages, the largest of which may contain 300 inhabitants.
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LAKE COUNTY.
LAKE
LAKE was formed March 6th, 1840, from Geauga and Cuyahoga, and so named from its bordering on Lake Erie. The surface is more rolling than level ; the soil is good, and generally clayey loam, inter- spersed with ridges of sand and gravel. The principal crops are wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, hay and potatoes. Dairy products, beef cattle and wool are also among the staples. This county is peculiar for the quality and quantity of its fruit, as apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, &c. Many thousand dollars' worth are annually exported, and many of its inhabitants leave every spring, to engage in the business of grafting at the south and west. The situation of this county is very favorable to the preservation of the fruit from the early frosts, the warm lake winds often preventing its destruction, while that some twenty miles inland, is cut off. Bog iron ore is found in large quantities in Perry and Madison, and there are several furnaces in the county. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population :
Concord, 1136
Madison, 2801
Perry, 1337
Kirtland, 1777
Mentor,
1245
Willoughby, 1943
Leroy, 898
Painesville, 2580
Population of Lake, in 1840, 13,717, or 65 inhabitants to the square mile.
Mentor was the first place settled in this county. In the summer of 1799, two families were there .* Among the earliest settlers of Lake, was the Hon. John Walworth, who was born at New London, Ct., in 1765.
When a young man, he spent five years at sea and in Demarara, South America. About the year 1792, he removed, with his family, to the then new country east of Cayuga lake, New York. In 1799, he visited Cleveland, and after his return, in the fall of that year, journeyed to Connecticut, purchased over two thousand acres of land in the present town- ship of Painesville, with the design of making a settlement. On the 20th of February, 1800, he commenced the removal of his family and effects. They were brought on as far as Buffalo, in sleighs. At that place, after some little detention, the party being enlarged by the addition of some others, drove in two sleighs on to the ice of the lake, and pro- ceeded until abreast of Cattaraugus creek, at which point they were about ten miles from land. At dusk, leaving their sleighs and horses some 50 or 60 rods from shore, they made their camp under some hemlock trees, where all, men, women and children passed an agreeable night, its earlier hours being enlivened by good cheer and social converse. The next afternoon, they arrived at Presque isle, (now Erie, Pa.,) where, leaving his family, Mr. Walworth went back to Buffalo, for his goods. On his return to Erie, he, with his hired man and two horses and a yoke of oxen, followed the lake shore, and arrived in safety at his new purchase. His nearest neighbors east, were at Harpersfield, 15 miles distant. On the west, a few miles distant, within or near the present limits of Mentor, was what was then called the Marsh settlement, where was then living Judge Jesse Phelps, Jared Wood, Ebenezer Merry, Charles Parker and Moses Parks. Mr. Walworth soon re- turned to Erie, on foot, and brought out his family and effects in a flat boat, all arriving safe at the new home on the 7th of April. The first fortnight they lived in a tent, during which period the sun was not seen. About the expiration of this time, Gen. Edward Paine-the first delegate to the legislature from the Lake county, in the winter of 1801-2-arrived with seven or eight hired men, and settled about a mile distant. Mutually assisting each other, cabins were soon erected for shelter, and gradually the conveniences of civilization clustered around them.
* Mrs. Tappan, in the Mss. of the Ashtabula Historical Society.
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LAKE COUNTY.
Shortly after the formation of the state government, Mr. Walworth, Solomon Griswold, of Windsor, and Calvin Austin, of Warren, were appointed associate judges of Trumbull county. In 1805, Judge Walworth was appointed collector of customs for the district of Erie. In August, he opened the collector's office at Cleveland, and in the March ensuing, removed his family thither. He held various offices until his decease, Sept. 10th, 1812, and was an extensive land agent. Judge Walworth was small in stature, and of weakly con- stitution. Prior to his removal to the west, it was supposed he had the consumption ; but to the hardships and fatigue he endured, and change of climate, his physicians attributed the prolongation of his life many years. He was a fearless man, and possessed of that indomitable perseverance and strength of will, especially important in overcoming the ob- stacles in the path of the pioneer .*
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View in Painesville.
Painesville, the county seat, and the largest village between Cleve- land and Erie, Pa., is 31 miles E. of Cleveland, and 170 NE. of Co- lumbus. The Grand river skirts the village on the east, in a deep and picturesque valley. Painesville is one of the most beautiful villages in the west : it is somewhat scattered, leaving ample room for the cultivation of gardens, ornamental trees and shrubbery. A handsome public square of several acres, adorned with young trees, is laid out near the center of the town, on which face some public buildings and private mansions. The view represents the principal public buildings in the place. The first on the left, is the Methodist church; the building next, without a spire, tower or cupola, is the Disciple church ; the one beyond, the Presbyterian church, and that most distant, the court house : these two last front the west side of the public square. Painesville is a flourishing town, containing 1 Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Disciples and 1 Methodist church, 14 mercantile stores, 1 flouring mill, 1 bank, 1 newspaper printing office, and has increased since 1840, when it had 1014 inhabitants. The Painesville academy is a classical institution for both sexes, and in fine repute : a large brick building is appropriated for its uses. Near the town is the Geauga furnace, which employs a heavy capital.
* From the Barr MSS.
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LAKE COUNTY.
Painesville was laid out about the year 1805, by Henry Cham- pion, and originally named Champion : it was afterwards changed to that of the township which derived its name from Gen. Ed. Paine, a native of Connecticut, an officer of the revolution, and an early settler : he died only a few years since, at an advanced age, leaving the reputation of a warm hearted and excellent man.
Among the aborigines familiarly known to the early settlers at Painesville, was a fine specimen of manhood, called by the whites, Seneca ; by the Indians, Stigwanish, which, being rendered in English, signifies the Standing Stone. Says an old pioneer, in the Barr MSS :
Whoever once saw him, and could not at once perceive the dignity of a Roman senator, the honesty of Aristides and the philanthropy of William Penn, must be unacquainted with physiognomy. He was never known to ask a donation, but would accept one exactly as he ought, when offered. But it was not suffered to rest there ; an appropriate return was sure to be made, and he would frequently be in advance. He drank cider or Malaga wine moderately, but was so much of a teetotaller, as to have abjured ardent spirits since the time when, in a drunken frenzy, he aimed a blow with his tomahawk at his wife, which split the head of the papoose on her back. He seldom wanted credit in his trading trans- actions, and when he did, there was no difficulty in obtaining it, as he was sure to make punctual payment in specie. Once, when himself and wife dined with us at Painesville, he took much trouble to instruct her in the use of the knife and fork. Vain attempt! his usual politeness forsook him, and bursts of immoderate laughter succeeded, in which we were all compelled to join. The last time I saw Seneca-the fine old fellow-was at Judge Walworth's, in Cleveland, a short time before hostilities commenced with Great Britain. He expressed to me a fear that war was inevitable, and that the Indians, insti- gated by the British, would overwhelm our weak settlements ; but gave the strongest assu- rances that if it should be possible, he would give us seasonable notice. If he was not prevented by age or infirmities from redeeming his pledge, he was probably killed by his own people, while endeavoring to leave their lines, or by some of ours, through a mistake of his character.
The Hon. Samuel Huntington, who was governor of the state from 1808 to 1810, resided at Painesville, in the latter part of his life, and died there in 1817. Prior to his removal to Painesville, he resided at Cleveland. One evening, while travelling towards Cleve- land from the east, he was attacked, about two miles from the town, by a pack of wolves, and such was their ferocity, that he broke his umbrella to pieces in keeping them off, to which, and the fleetness of his horse, he owed the preservation of his life.
Three miles below Painesville, at the mouth of Grand river, is Fairport, laid out in 1812, by Samuel Huntington, Abraham Skinner, Seymour and Calvin Austin, and Simon Perkins. The first ware- house in this region, and perhaps on the lake, was built about 1803, on the river, two miles above, by Abraham Skinner, near which, in the dwelling of Mr. Skinner, the first court in the old county of Geauga, was held. Fairport has one of the best harbors on the lake, and so well defended from winds, and easy of access, that vessels run in when they cannot easily make other ports. The water is deep enough for any lake craft, and about $60,000 has been expended in improving the harbor, by the general government. Lake steamers stop here, and considerable commerce is carried on. Fairport contains 8 forwarding houses, several groceries, from 20
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LAKE COUNTY.
to 40 dwellings, and a light house, and a beacon to guide the mar- iner on the fresh water sea.
Richmond, one mile above Fairport, on the opposite and west side of the river, was laid out about ten years ago, in the era of speculation. A large village was built, a steamboat was owned there, and great things promised. Not having the natural elements of prosperity, it soon waned, some of its dwellings were removed to Painesville, while many others, deserted and decaying, are left to mark the spot.
Medical University, etc., Willoughby.
The neat and pleasant village of Willoughby, is on Chagrin river, 23 miles from its mouth, 19 miles from Cleveland, and 11 s. w. of Painesville. The village and township were originally called Cha- grin, and changed, in 1834, to the present name, in honor of Prof. Willoughby, of Herkimer county, N. Y. It was settled about the year 1799, by David Abbot, (see page 156,) Peter French, Jacob West, Ebenezer Smith, Elisha Graham and others. Abbot built the first grist mill on the site of the Willoughby mills: Smith was the first man who received a regular deed of his land from the Connecticut land company. In 1796, Charles Parker, one of the surveyors, built a house at the mouth of the river, and a number of huts for the use of the land company : the house was the first erected in the township, and probably the first in the county. Parker be- came a settler in 1802; in 1803 and 1804, John Miller, Christopher Colson, James Lewis and Jacob West settled in Willoughby. Dr. Henderson, the first regular physician, came in 1813, and the first organized town meeting was held April 3d, 1815. A bloody battle, says tradition, was fought at an early day between the Indians, on the spot where the medical college stands : human bones have been discovered, supposed to be of those who fell in that action.
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