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 6
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The story of the sufferings of this family has often been told, but in the midst of plenty, where want is unknown, can with difficulty be appreciated. The surveyors, in the prose- cution of their labors westwardly, had principally removed their stores to Cleveland, while the family of Judge Kingsbury remained at Conneaut. Being compelled by business to leave in the fall for the state of New York, with the hope of a speedy return to his family, the Judge was attacked by a severe fit of sickness confining him to his bed until the setting in of winter. As soon as able he proceeded on his return as far as Buffalo, where he hired an Indian to guide him through the wilderness. At Presque Isle, anticipating the wants of his family, he purchased twenty pounds of flour. In crossing Elk Creek on the ice, he disabled his horse, left him in the snow, and mounting his flour on his own back, pursued his way filled with gloomy forebodings in relation to the fate of his family. On his arrival late one evening, his worst apprehensions were more than realized in a scene agonizing to the husband and father. Stretched on her cot lay the partner of his cares, who had followed him through all the dangers and hardships of the wilderness without repining, pale and emaciated, reduced by meagre famine to the last stages in which life can be supported, and near the mother, on a little pallet, were the remains of his youngest child, born in his absence, who had just expired for the want of that nourishment which the mother, deprived of sustenance, was unable to give. Shut up by a gloomy wilderness, she was far distant alike from the aid or sympathy of friends, filled with anxiety for an ab- sent husband, suffering with want and destitute of necessary assistance, and her children expiring around her with hunger.
Such is the picture presented, by which the wives and daughters of the present day may form some estimate of the hardships endured by the pioneers of this beautiful country. It appears that Judge Kingsbury, in order to supply the wants of his family, was under the necessity of transporting his provisions from Cleveland on a hand sled, and that himself and hired man drew a barrel of beef the whole distance at a single load.
Mr. Kingsbury has since held several important judicial and legis- lative trusts, and is yet living in Newberg, about four miles distant from Cleveland. He was the first who thrust a sickle into the first wheat field planted on the soil of the Reserve. His wife was in- terred at Cleveland, about the year 1843. The fate of her child- the first white child born on the Reserve, starved to death for want of nourishment-will not soon be forgotten.
The harbor of Conneaut is now an important point of tranship- ment. It has a pier, with a lighthouse upon it, 2 forwarding houses, and 11 dwellings. Several vessels ply from here, and it is a fre- quent stopping place for steamers. Two miles south of the harbor, 22 from Jefferson, 28 from Erie, Pa., is the borough of Conneaut, ... .......... on the west bank of Conneaut creek. It contains 1 Baptist, : Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, and 1 Christian church, 11 mercantile
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stores, 1 newspaper printing office, a fine classical academy, Mr. L. W. Savage and Miss Mary Booth, Principals, and about 1000 inhab- itants. East and West Conneaut and South Ridge are small places in this, the township of Conneaut, which once bore the name of Salem.
The first permanent settlement in Conneaut was in 1799. Thomas Montgomery and Aron Wright rettled here in the spring of 1798. Robert Montgomery and family, Levi and John Montgomery, Nathan and John King, and Samuel Bemus and family came the same season.
When the settlers arrived, some twenty or thirty Indian cabins were still standing, which were said to present an appearance of neatness and comfort not usual with this race. The Massauga tribe, which inhabited the spot, were obliged to leave in consequence of the murder of a white man named Williams.
Two young men taken at the defeat of St. Clair, were said to have been prisoners for a considerable time among the Indians of this village. On their arrival at Conneaut they were made to run the gauntlet, and received the orthodox number of blows and kicks usual on such occasions. In solemn council it was resolved that the life of Fitz Gibbon should be saved, but the other, whose name is not recollected, was condemned to be burned. He was bound to a tree, a large quantity of hickory barks tied into faggots and piled around him. But from the horrors of the most painful of deaths he was saved by the interposition of a young squaw belonging to the tribe. Touched by sympathy she interceded in his behalf, and by her expostulations, backed by several packages of fur and a small sum of money, succeeded in effecting his deliverance: an act in the lowly Indian maid which entitles her name to be honorably recorded with that of Pocahontas, among the good and virtuous of every age.
There were mounds situated in the eastern part of the village of Conneaut and an ex- tensive burying ground near the Presbyterian church, which appear to have had no con- nection with the burying places of the Indians. Among the human bones found in the mounds were some belonging to men of gigantic structure. Some of the skulls* were of sufficient capacity to admit the head of an ordinary man, and jaw bones that might have been fitted on over the face with equal facility : the other bones were proportionably large. The burying ground referred to contained about four acres, and with the exception of a slight angle in conformity with the natural contour of the ground, was in the form of an oblong square. It appeared to have been accurately surveyed into lots running from north to south, and exhibited all the order and propriety of arrangement deemed necessary to constitute Christian burial. On the first examination of the ground by the settlers, they found it covered with the ordinary forest trees, with an opening near the centre containing a single butternut. The graves were distinguished by slight depressions disposed in straiglit rows, and were estimated to number from two to three thousand. On examination in 1800, they were found to contain human bones, invariably blackened by time, which on exposure to the air, soon crumbled to dust. Traces of ancient cultivation observed by the first settlers on the lands of the vicinity, although covered with forest, exhibited signs of having once been thrown up into squares and terraces, and laid out into gardens.
There is a fragment or chip of a tree in the possession of the His- torical Society, which is a curiosity. The tree of which that was a chip, was chopped down and butted off for a saw log, about three feet from the ground, some thirty rods SE. of Fort Hill, in Conneaut, in 1829, by Silas A. Davis, on land owned by B. H. King. Some marks were found upon it near the heart of the tree. The Hon. Nehemiah King, with a magnifying glass, counted 350 annualer rings in that part of the stump, outside of these marks. Deducting
* In the spring of 1815, a mound on Harbor street, Conneaut, was cut through for a road. One morning succeeding a heavy rain, a Mr. Walker, who was up very early, picked up a jaw bone together with an artificial tooth which lay near. He brought them forthwith to Mr. P. R. Spencer, at present the Secretary of the Ashtabula Historical So- ciety, who fitted the tooth in a cavity from which it had evidently fallen. The tooth was metallic, probably silver, but little was then thought of the circumstance.
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350 from 1829, leaves 1479, which must have been the year when these cuts were made. This was 13 years before the discovery of America, by Columbus. It perhaps was done by the race of the mounds, with an axe of copper, as that people had the art of harden- ing that metal so as to cut like steel.
The adventure of Mr. Salmon Sweatland, of Conneaut, who crossed Lake Erie in an open canoe, in September, 1817, is one of unusual interest. He had been accustomed, with the aid of a neigh- bor, Mr. Cozzens, and a few hounds, to drive the deer into the lake, where, pursuing them in a canoe, he shot them with but little diffi- culty. The circumstances which took place at this time, are vividly given in the annexed extract from the records of the Historical Society.
It was a lovely morning in early autumn, and Sweatland, in anticipation of his favorite sport, had risen at the first dawn of light, and without putting on his coat or waistcoat left his cabin, listening in the mean time in expectation of the approach of the dogs. His patience was not put to a severe trial ere his ears were saluted by the deep baying of the hounds, and on arriving at the beach he perceived that the deer had already taken to the lake, and was moving at some distance from the shore. In the enthusiasm of the moment he threw his hat upon the beach, his canoe was put in requisition, and shoving from the shore he was soon engaged in a rapid and animated pursuit. The wind, which had been fresh from the south during the night and gradually increasing, was now blowing nearly a gale, but intent on securing his prize, Sweatland was not in a situation to yield to the dic- tates of prudence. The deer, which was a vigorous animal of its kind, hoisted its flag of defiance, and breasting the waves stoutly showed that in a race with a log canoe and a single paddle, he was not easily outdone.
Sweatland had attained a considerable distance from the shore and encountered a heavy sea before overtaking the animal, but was not apprized of the eminent peril of his situation until shooting past him the deer turned towards the shore. He was however brought . to a full appreciation of his danger when, on tacking his frail vessel and heading towards the land, he found that with his utmost exertions he could make no progress in the desired direction, but was continually drifting farther to sea. He had been observed in his outward progress by Mr. Cousins, who had arrived immediately after the hounds, and by his own family, and as he disappeared from sight, considerable apprehensions were entertained for his safety.
The alarm was soon given in the neighborhood, and it was decided by those competent to judge that his return would be impossible, and that unless help could be afforded he was doomed to perish at sea. Actuated by those generous impulses that often induce men to peril their own lives to preserve those of others, Messrs. Gilbert, Cousins and Belden took a light boat at the mouth of the creek and proceeded in search of the wanderer, with the de- termination to make every effort for his relief. They met the deer returning towards the shore nearly exhausted, but the man who was the object of their solicitude was no where to be seen. They made stretches off shore within probable range of the fugitive for some hours, until they had gained a distance of five or six miles from land, when meeting with a sea in which they judged it impossible for a canoe to live, they abandoned the search, re- turned with difficulty to the shore, and Sweatland was given up for lost.
The canoe in which he was embarked was dug from a large whitewood log, by Major James Brookes, for a fishing boat: it was about fourteen feet in length and rather wide in proportion, and was considered a superior one of the kind. Sweatland still continued to lie off, still heading towards the land, with the faint hope that the wind might abate, or that aid might reach him from the shore. One or two schooners were in sight in course of the day, and he made every signal in his power to attract their attention, but without success. The shore continued in sight, and in tracing its distant outline he could distinguish the spot where his cabin stood, within whose holy precincts were contained the cherished ob- jects of his affections, now doubly endeared from the prospect of losing them forever. As these familiar objects receded from view, and the shores appeared to sink beneath the troubled waters, the last tie which united him in companionship to his fellow-men seemed dissolved, and the busy world, with all its interests, forever hidden from his sight.
Fortunately Sweatland possessed a cool head and a stout heart, which, united with a
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tolerable share of physical strength and power of endurance, eminently qualified him for the part he was to act in this emergency. He was a good sailor, and as such would not yield to despondency until the last expedient had been exhausted. One only expedient remained, that of putting before the wind and endeavoring to reach the Canada shore, a distance of about fifty miles. This he resolved to embrace as his forlorn hope.
It was now blowing a gale, and the sea was evidently increasing as he proceeded from the shore, and yet he was borne onwards over the dizzy waters by a power that no human agency could control. He was obliged to stand erect, moving cautiously from one ex- tremity to the other, in order to trim his vessel to the waves, well aware that a single lost stroke of the paddle, or a tottering movement, would swamp his frail bark and bring his adventure to a final close. Much of his attention was likewise required in bailing his canoe from the water, an operation which he was obliged to perform by making use of his shoes, a substantial pair of stoggies, that happened fortunately to be upon his feet.
Hitherto he had been blessed with the cheerful light of heaven, and amidst all his perils could say, " The light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun," but to add to his distress, the shades of night were now gathering around him, and he was soon enveloped in darkness. The sky was overcast, and the light of a few stars that twinkled through the haze alone remained to guide his path over the dark and troubled waters. In this fearful condition, destitute of food and the necessary clothing, his log canoe was rocked upon the billows during that long and terrible night. When morning appeared he was in sight of land, and found he had made Long Point, on the Canada shore. Here he was met by an adverse wind and a cross sea, but the same providential aid which had guided him thus far still sustained and protected him; and after being buffeted by the winds and waves for nearly thirty hours, he succeeded in reaching the land in safety.
What were the emotions he experienced on treading once more " the green and solid earth," we shall not attempt to inquire, but his trials were not yet ended. He found him- self faint with hunger and exhausted with fatigue, at the distance of forty miles from any human habitation, whilst the country that intervened was a desert filled with marshes and tangled thickets, from which nothing could be obtained to supply his wants. These diffi- culties, together with the reduced state of his strength, rendered his progress towards the settlements slow and toilsome. On his way he found a quantity of goods, supposed to have been driven on shore from the wreck of some vessel, which, although they afforded him no immediate relief, were afterwards of material service.
He ultimately arrived at the settlement, and was received and treated with great kind- ness and hospitality by the people. After his strength was sufficiently recruited, he returned with a boat, accompanied by some of the inhabitants, and brought off the goods. From this place he proceeded by land to Buffalo, where, with the avails of his treasure, he fur- nished himself in the garb of a gentleman, and finding the Traveler, Capt. Chas. Brown, from Conneaut, in the harbor, he shipped on board and was soon on his way to rejoin his family. When the packet arrived off his dwelling, they fired guns from the deck and the crew gave three loud cheers. On landing, he found his funeral sermon had been preached, and had the rare privilege of seeing his own widow clothed in the habiliments of mourning.
The first regular settlement made within the present limits of the county was at Harpersfield, on the 7th of March, 1798. Alexander Harper, Wm. M'Farland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, started from Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York, and after a long and fatiguing journey arrived on the last of June, at their new homes in the wilderness. This little colony of about twenty per- sons, endured much privation in the first few months of their resi- dence. The whole population of the Reserve amounted to less than 150 souls, viz : ten families at Youngstown, three at Cleveland, and two at Mentor. In the same summer three families came to Bur- ton, and Judge Hudson settled at Hudson.
Cut short of their expected supplies of provision for the winter, by the loss of a vessel they had chartered for that purpose, the little colony came near perishing by famine, having at one time been reduced to six kernels of parched corn to each person; but they were saved by the intrepidity of the sons of Col. Harper, James and William. These young men made frequent journies to Elk Creek, Pa., from which they packed on their backs bags of corn, which was about all the provision the settlers had to sustain life during a long and tedious winter. Some few of their journies were performed on the ice of Lake Erie, whenever it
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was sufficiently strong to bear them, which was seldom. On the first occasion, of this kind they were progressing finely on the ice, when their sled broke through into the water. A third person who happened to be with them at this time exclaimed, " What shall we do ?" " Let it go," James replied. "No!" exclaimed William, who was of a different temperament, " you go into the woods and strike a fire while I get the grain." He then with great diffi- culty secured the grain, by which operation he got completely wet through, and a cutting wind soon converted his clothing into a sheet of ice. He then went in search of his com- panions and was disappointed in finding they had not built a fire. The truth was, they had grown so sleeply with the intense cold as to be unable to strike fire. He soon had a cheer- ful blaze, and then converted himself into a nurse for the other two, who on getting warm were deadly sick.
JEFFERSON HOUSE.
County Buildings at Jefferson.
Jefferson, the county seat, is 56 miles from Cleveland and 204 NE. of Columbus. It is an incorporated borough, laid out regularly on a level plat of ground, and contains 3 stores, 1 Pres., 1 Bap., 1 Epis- copal, and 1 Methodist Church, and 73 dwellings. The township of the same name in which it is situated, was originally owned by Gideon Granger of Conn. In the spring of 1804 he sent out Mr. Eldad Smith from Suffield in that state, who first opened a bridle path to Austinburg, and sowed and fenced ten acres of wheat. In the summer of the next year, Michael Webster, Jr., and family, and Jonathan Warner, made a permanent settlement. In the fall follow- ing, the family of James Wilson built a cabin on the site of the tavern shown in the view. The court house was finished in 1810 or '11, and the first court held in 1811 ; Timothy R. Hawley, Clerk, Quin- tus F. Atkins, Sheriff.
Ashtabula is on Ashtabula river, on the Buffalo and Cleveland road, 8 miles from Jefferson. It is a pleasant village, adorned with neat dwellings and shrubbery. The borough contains 1 Presbyte- rian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Baptist church, 10 mercantile stores, and a population estimated at 1200.
The harbor of Ashtabula is 23 miles from the village at the mouth of the river. It has several forwarding establishments, 20 or 30 houses, the lake steamers stop there, and considerable business is carried on ; about a dozen vessels are owned at this port. The com-
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mercial business of this and Lake county has been much injured by the internal improvement system of the state, which has diverted the back country trade into other channels. When the Erie canal
North Public Square, Ashtabula.
was finished, Northern Ohio felt its invigorating effects, for from the depression of the times after the late war, until the opening of that canal and the commencement of steam navigation on the lake, bu- siness languished and made but little progress. The invigorating effects of that work prompted a spirit in Ohio for similar enterprises. The representatives of this vicinity in the legislature drank deeply of the general enthusiasm, although aware that in any event their constituents would receive but a general benefit.
The prosperity of Ashtabula received a severe shock in the loss of the steamer Washington, destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, off Silver Creek, in June, 1838, by which misfortune about 40 lives were lost. This boat was built at Ashtabula harbor, and most of her stock was owned by persons of moderate circumstances in this place. She was commanded by Capt. N. W. Brown. A passenger who was on board published, a few days after, the following account of this dis- astrous event.
The W. left Cleveland on her passage down from Detroit, June 14th, at 8 A. M., pro- ceeded on her way until Saturday 2 o'clock, A. M., when she arrived in the vicinity of Sil- ver Creek, about 33 miles from Buffalo. The boat was discovered to be on fire, which pro- ceeded from beneath the boilers. The passengers were alarmed, and aroused from their slumbers ; such a scene of confusion and distress ensued as those ouly of my readers can imagine who have been in similar circumstances. Despair did not however completely possess the mass, until it became evident that the progress of the flames could not be ar- rested. From that moment the scene beggars all description. Suffice it to say, that numbers precipitated themselves from the burning mass into the water ; some of them with a shriek of despair, and others silently sunk beneath the waves; others momentarily more fortunate swam a short distance and drowned; others still, on pieces of boards and wood, arrived on the beach ; yet some even of them, sank into a watery grave. The small boat had by this time put off loaded with about 25 souls for the shore. Those arrived safe, picking up one or two by the way.
The writer of this article was one of the number. Other small boats came to our assist- ance, which, together with the Washington's boat, saved perhaps a majority of the passen- gers on board. There is reason to believe that as many as 40 perished. It is impossible to compute the precise number. Many remained on the boat till it was wrapped in one sheet of flame. Of those there is reason to believe that numbers perished in the confla- gration ; while others, half burned, precipitated themselves into the watery element, thus
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suffering the double agency of death by fire and water. Most of the crew were saved, the Captain among the number, who, during the awful calamity, acted with the utmost de- cision and intrepidity. Indeed, no blame, so far as the writer has been informed, has been attached to any officer or hand on the boat. The utmost exertion was used to move her on the shore, until it became necessary to stop the engine in order to let down the small boat, which having been done, the fire had progressed so far as to render it impossible to again start the machinery. I give a few particulars of the losses of the passengers. Mr. Shudds is the only survivor of his family of seven. A lady passenger lost three children, a sister and mother. Mr. Michael Parker lost his wife and parents, sister and her child. But I will not further continue the cases of individual bereavement.
Kingsville, 14 miles NE. of Jefferson, contains 1 Baptist, 1 Pres- byterian, and 1 Methodist church ; 3 stores, a woolen factory, and about 400 people. It is a pleasant village and has a public square on which stand the churches. It is surrounded by a fine and intelli- gent agricultural community. At this place is the Kingsville Acad- emy, a thriving institution, in good repute, with about 130 pupils, under the charge of Mr. Z. Graves, and supported by the public spirit of the vicinity. The water privileges are good at Kingsville : Conneaut creek runs near the village, on which are several mills and factories, and a branch runs through it, on which, within half a mile, are 5 improved water privileges.
Six miles westerly from Jefferson is Austinburg, a village similar in character to the above. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Congrega- tional, and 1 Free Will Baptist church, and about 300 people. West of the town, on a commanding site, is the Grand River Institute, Rev. Thomas Tenney, Principal. The buildings are spacious and comfortable and the institution flourishing, having a large fund for its support and about 150 pupils of both sexes.
The original proprietors of this township were Wm. Battell, of Torringford, Solomon Rockwell & Co., of Winchester, and Elipha- let Austin, of New Hartford, Ct. By the instrumentality of Judge Austin, from whom the town was named, two families moved to this place from Connecticut in 1799. The Judge preceded them a short time driving, in company with a hired man, some cattle 150 miles through the woods on an Indian trail, while the rest came in a boat across the lake. There was at this time a few families at Harpers- field ; at Windsor, southwest, about 20 miles, a family or two ; also at Elk creek, 40 miles northeast, and at Vernon, 40 miles southeast, were several families, all of whom were in a destitute condition for provisions. In the year 1800, another family moved from Nor- folk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, there was an accession of ten families to the settlement, principally from Norfolk, Conn. Part of these came from Buffalo by water, and part by land through the wilderness. During that season wheat was carried to mill at Elk creek, a distance of 40 miles, and in some instances one half was given for carrying it to mill and returning it in flour.
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