Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 78

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 78

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Area, 470 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 100,462 ; pasture, 73,790; woodland, 24,634; lying waste, 8,937; produced in wheat, 184,680 bushels ; oats, 550,108 ; corn, 360,664 ; apples, 297,497 ; butter, 847,183 pounds ; cheese, 46,397; milk, 3,598,729 quarts; cows, 12,486; pounds of grapes, 3,290,363, being more than double that of any other county. School census 1886 74,027 ; teachers, 932. It has 395 miles of railroad track.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880,

Bedford,

2,021

1,787

Middleburg,

339

4,053

Brecksville,

1,124

1,095

Newburg,

1,342

1,613

Brooklyn,

1,409

4,433

Olmsted,

659

1,817

Chagrin Falls,

1,562

Orange,

1,114

783

Cleveland,

7,037

160,146

Parma,

965

1,444

Dover,

966

1,784

Rockport,

1,235

2,676

East Cleveland,

3,673

Royalton,

1,051

1,124

Euclid,

1,774

2,776

Solon,

774

867

Independence,

754

1,993

Strongsville,

1,151

1,029

Mayfield,

852

879

Warrensville,

1,085

1,409

Population in 1840 was 26,512 ; in 1860, 77,139 ; in 1870, 130,564; in 1880,

495

CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

194,735, of whom 101,980 were Ohio-born; 4,728 Pennsylvania; 10,059 New York ; 27,051 boru in the German Empire; 13,203 in Ireland ; 10,839 in Eng- land and Wales ; 4,884 British America ; 1,705. Scotland ; 506 France ; 248 Swe- den and Norway.

As early as 1755 there was a French station within the present limits of Cuyahoga. On Lewis Evans' map of the middle British colonies, published that year, there is marked upon the west bank of the Cuya- hoga, the words "French house," which was doubtless the station of a French L. ERIE trader. The ruins of a house, supposed to be those of the one alluded to, have been discovered on Foot's farm, in Brooklyn Cuahoga R. township, about five miles from the month of the Cuyahoga. The small engraving annexed is from the map of Evans, and delineates the geography as in the original. French House ATawas

In 1786 the Moravian missionary, MingoesA Zeisberger, with his Indian converts, left Portage Detroit, and arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga in a vessel ealled the Mack- inaw. From thenee they proceeded up the river about ten miles from the site of Cleveland, and settled in an abandoned village of the Ottawas, within the present limits of Independence, which they ealled Pilgerruh, i. e., Pilgrim's Rest. Their stay was brief, for in the April following they left for Huron river, and settled near the site of Milan, Erie county, at a locality they named New Salem.

The British, who, after the Revolutionary war, refused to yield possession of the lake countrywest of the Cuyahoga, oceupied to its shores until 1790. Their trad- ers had a house in Ohio City, north of the Detroit road on the point of the hill near the river, when the surveyors first arrived here in 1796. From an early day Washington, Jefferson and other leading Virginia statesmen regarded the mouth of the Cuyahoga as an important eommereial position.

The First Permanent Settlement within the limits of Cuyahoga was made at CLEVELAND in the autumn of 1796. On the 4th of July previous, the first surveying party of the Re- serve landed at Conneaut. In September and October the corps laid out the city, which was named in honor of the land company's agent, Gen. Moses Cleveland. By the 18th of October, the surveyors quitted the place, leaving Mr. Job V. Stiles and his family and Mr. Edward Paine, who were the only persons that passed the winter of 1796-97 within the limits of the town. Their lonely residence was a log-cabin, which stood near the site of the Commercial bank. The near- est white settlement west was at the month of the Raisin ; south or east at Fort M'Intosh, at the mouth of Big Beaver ; and northeast at Conneaut. Those families that wintered at Conneaut suffered severely from want of food.

The Surveying Party, on reaching the Re- serve the succeeding season, again made Cleveland their headquarters. Early this sea- son, Elijah Gunn and Judge Kingsbury re- moved here from Conneaut with their fam- ilies, and in the fall the latter removed to Newburg, where he still (1846) resides at an

advanced age. The little colony wasincreased also by the arrival of Major Lorenzo Carter and Ezekiel Hawley, with their families.

Trials and Suffering .- In 1798 Rodolphus Edwards and Nathaniel Doane, with their families, settled in Cleveland. To faintly show the difficulty of travelling at that time, it is stated that Mr. Doane was ninety-two days on his journey from Chatham, Conn. In the latter part of the summer and in the fall, every person in the town was sick, either with the bilious fever or with the fever and agne. Mr. Doane's family consisted of nine persons ; the only one of them having sufficient strength to take care of them and bring a pail of water was Seth Doane, then a lad of thirteen years of age, and even he had daily attacks of the fever and ague. Such was the severity of the bilious fever at that time, that a person having only daily attacks of fever and ague was deemed lucky. There was much suffering from the want of food, particularly that proper for the sick. The only way this family was supplied, for two months or more, was through the exertions of this boy, who daily, after having an attack of the ague, went to Judge Kingsbury's, in Newburg-five miles distant-got a peck of

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

VALLEY OF THE CUYAHOGA AT CLEVELAND.

[The view shows in the distance Lake Erie. The valley is now for miles filled with manufacturing establishments -- a seene of busy industry. The viaduct now spans the valley in the middle back- ground from plateau to plateau, 3,211 feet in length, 68 feet high and 64 feet wide.]

....

THE SUPERIOR STREET VIADUCT AT CLEVELAND.

[This great arched viaduct of Berea stone and iron was completed in 1878 and at a cost of $2,235,000. fen years later, in 1888, through the enterprise of Mr. J. M. Curtis, was completed at an expense of about $1,000,000 the Central Viaduct. It is built of iron on the Cantilever principle, and crosses the Cuyahoga ahout a mile above the other and also Walworth Run Valley, the combined length 5,229 .eet, and height ahove the Cuyahoga 101 feet.]

WEDDELL HOUSE.

MERCHANTS EXCHANCE.

WILLIAMS

BET CONDO & S

M HowE t.L

Drawn by Henry Howe, 1846.

SUPERIOR STREET, CLEVELAND.

[This ever-increasing busy thoroughfare preserves some of its original features. The Weddell House and its contemplative eagle still remain. The venerable bird of never-lifting wing has there rested forty-two years from that hour since he could glance down upon him who pens these lines, sketching the scene, seated in a chair with urchins curious clustered close around. Solitary philo- sophic observer upon things below, looking for greater wonders and ready to hail the good time coming.]

496

CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

corn, mashed it in a handmill, waited until a second attack of the ague was over, and then started on his return. There was at one time a space of several days when he was too ill to make the trip, during which turnips com- prised about all the vegetables the family had. Fortunately, Major Carter having only the fever and ague, was enabled, through the aid of his hounds and trusty rifle, to procure 'abundance of venison and other wild game. His family being somewhat acclimated, suf- fered less than that of Mr. Doane. Their situation can scarcely be conceived of at the present day. Destitute of a physician, and with a few medicines, necessity taught them to use such means as nature had placed within their reach. For calomel they substituted pills from the extract of the bark of the but- ternut and in lieu of quinine used dogwood and cherry bark.

In November, four men who had so far.re- covered as to have ague attacks no oftener than once in two or three days, started in the only boat for Walnut creek, Pa., to obtain a winter's supply of flour for the colony. When below Euclid creek a storm arose, drove them ashore, stove their boat in pieces and it was with difficulty they saved their lives and re- gained the city. During the winter and sum- mer following, the colony had no flour except that ground in hand or coffee mills, which, for want of proper means to separate from the bran, was made into a bread similar to that of Graham's. In this summer the Connecticut land company opened the first road on the Reserve, which commenced about ten miles from the lake on the Pennsylvania line and extended to Cleveland. In January, 1799, Mr. Doane moved to Doane's Corners, and from that time until April, 1800-a space of fifteen months-Major Carter's was the only white family in Cleveland. During the spring of 1799, Wheeler W. Williams, from Norwich, Conn., and Major Wyatt erected a small grist and a saw mill at the falls, on the site of Newburg, which being the first mill on the Reserve, spread joy among the pioneers. A short time prior to this, each house in Cleve- land had its own hand grist mill in the chim- ney corner, which is thus described by one of the early settlers : "The stones were of the common grindstone grit and about four inches thick and twenty in diameter. The runner was turned by hand, with a pole set in the top of it near the verge. The upper end of the pole went into another hole inserted into a board, and nailed on the under side of the joist, immediately over the hole in the verge of the runner. One person turned the stone and another fed the corn into the eye with his hands. It was very hard work to grind, and the operators alternately changed places."

Celebrating Independence Day .- In 1800 several settlers came, among whom were David Clark and Major Amos Spafford, and from this time the town slowly progressed. The first ball in Cleveland was on the 4th of July, 1801, and was held at Major Carter's log-cabin, on the side hill ; John and Benja- min Wood and R. H Blinn, managers, and

Major Sammel Jones, musician and master of ceremonies. The company consisted of about thirty of both sexes. Mr. Jones' pro- ficiency on the violin won him great favor. Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough puncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven their spirits than whiskey sweetened with maple sugar, yet it is doubtful if the anniversary of American independence was ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyful and harmonious company than those who danced the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing and half-moon forty-six years ago in the log-cabin of Major Carter.

Major Carter and the Indians .- The In- dians were accustomed, at this period, to meet every autumn at Cleveland in great numbers and pile up their canoes at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. From thence they scattered into the interior, and passed the winter in hunting. In the spring they re- turned, disposed of their furs to traders, and, launching their bark canoes upon the lake, returned to their towns, in the region of the Sandusky and Maumee, where they remained until the succeeding autumn, to raise their crops of corn and potatoes. In this connec- tion we give an incident showing the fear- lessness and intrepidity of Major Lorenzo Carter, a native of Rutland, Vt., and a thorough pioneer, whose rough exterior cov- ered a warm heart. Some time in the spring of 1799 the Chippewas and Ottawas, to the number of several hundred, having disposed of their furs, determined to have one of their . drinking frolics at their camp, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga. As a precautionary measure, they gave up their tomahawks and other deadly weapons to their squaws to secrete, so that, in the height of their frenzy, they need not harm each other. They then sent to the Major for whiskey, from time to time, as they wanted it ; and in pro- portion as they became intoxicated, he weak- ened it with water. After a while it resulted in the Indians becoming partially sober from drinking freely of diluted liquor. Perceiving the trick, they became much enraged. Nine of them came on to the Major's, swearing vengeance on him and family. Carter being apprised of their design, and knowing they were partially intoxicated, felt himself to be fully their match, although possessing but poor weapons of defence. Stationing him- self behind his cabin door with a fire poker, he successively knocked down three or four as they attempted to enter, and then, leaping over their prostrate bodies, furiously attacked those on the outside and drove them to their canoes. Soon after a deputation of squaws came over to make peace with the Major, when, arming himself, he fearlessly repaired to their camp alone and settled the difficulty. Such eventually became his. influence over the Indians that they regarded him as a magician, and many of them were made to believe that he could shoot them with a rifle and not break their skins.

The First Militia Muster in Cuyahoga county was held on the 16th of June, 1806,

497

CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

at Doane's Corners. Nathaniel Doane was captain ; Sylvanus Burke, lieutenant ; and Samuel Jones, ensign, with about fifty pri- vates. The surveying party being at Cleve- land, and many strangers, this event attracted much attention. Never had so many whites been collected together in this vicinity as on this occasion. The military marched and countermarched to the lively roll of the drum of Joseph Burke, who had been drum major in the Revolution, and the soul-stirring strains of the fife of Lewis Dill. "Yankee Doodle,". "Hail Columbia," and "Who's Afeared " were among the tunes that aroused the martial spirit of many a gallant heart, as he wielded, perhaps, some ancient relic of the Revolution upon his shoulder.

Sad Incidents .- Early in the spring pre- vious a small boat, containing a Mr. Hunter, wife and child, a colored man named Ben, and a small colored boy, who were moving to Cleveland, was overtaken on the lake by a squall of wind and driven ashore east of Rocky river. The bluff being perpendicular, they were unable to ascend. They, however, climbed up the rocks as far as possible-the surge constantly beating over them-with the vain hope that the storm would subside ; but on Saturday it increased, and during Sunday Mrs. Hunter expired, the children having died previously. On Monday Mr. Hunter expired. Black Ben held out until Tuesday, when, the storm subsiding, some French traders, going in a vessel from Cleveland to Detroit, discovered him, took him aboard and returned with him to Cleveland. Thus, for three days and four nights had he been without sleep or food, and with little clothing, exposed to the continued surge, and holding on for life to some small bushes in the crev- ices of the rocks. Ben was treated with great kindness by Major Carter, in whose family he remained an invalid over a year.

Early the second spring succeeding a sim- ilar incident occurred near the same place. Stephen Gilbert, Joseph Plumb, Adolphus Spafford and Mr. Gilmore started on a fish- ing expedition for Maumee river in a Cana- dian batteau. They had aboard some goods and provisions, sent by Major Perry to his son Nathan, at Black river, and a hired woman, named Mary, as a passenger to that place. A Mr. White, of Newburg, and two sons of Mr. Plumb, not arriving in time, started by land for the mouth of Black river, intending to overtake the boat at that point. Pursuing the Indian trail on the bank of the lake, they discovered, when about half way, the wreck of the boat on the beach, by the rocky shore, about sixty feet below them, in what is now Dover, and near it, Mr. Plumb, seriously injured and suffering with cold. From him they learned that a squall of wind had upset their boat when about a mile from shore, and that all but him had drowned.

They were all good swimmers but Plumb, who luckily got astraddle of the boat after it had upset and floated ashore. The others

made for the shore, Gilbert telling his com- panions to divest themselves of their clothing as much as possible : but all their efforts failed. The coldness of the water chilled them so that they could not swim. Having learned the circumstances from Mr. Plumb, they made every effort to reach him, but were prevented by the steepness of the rocks. Mr. White and one of Mr. Plumb's sons has- tened to Black river, to procure means of re- lief, leaving the other son to comfort his father. After they left he climbed up an iron-wood sapling, which bent with his weight, and dropping about thirty feet perpendicular, joined his parent. In the night Quintus F. Atkins and Nathan Perry returned, with White and recovered Mr. Plumb by hauling him up the bank with a rope, by the light of a torch. This was no easy task for men worn down by fatigue, Mr. Plumb's weight being 220 pounds. The corpses of Gilmore and Spafford were afterwards found and buried at Cleveland; that of the colored woman was discovered and interred at Black river. This was a melancholy event to the colony. Of the eighteen deaths that had taken place among the inhabitants of Cleve- land from the first settlement in 1796, a pe- riod of twelve years, eleven had been by drowning. During this time the nearest set- tled physicians were at Hudson, twenty-four, and Austinburg, fifty miles.

Hanging of O' Mic .- On the 26th of June, 1812, an Indian, named O'Mic, was hung for murder, at Cleveland, on the public square. Fearing an attempt at rescue on the part of the Indians, a large number of armed citizens from this and the adjoining counties assem- bled. At the hour of execution he objected to going upon the scaffold ; this difficulty was removed by the promise of a pint of whiskey, which he swallowed, and then took his de- parture for the land of spirits. In 1813 Cleveland became a depot of supplies and rendezvous for troops engaged in the war. A small stockade was erected at the foot of Ontario street, on the lake bank, and a per- manent garrison stationed here, under Major (afterwards General) Jessup, of the United States army.

The Return of Peace was celebrated by libations of whiskey and the roar of artillery. One worthy, known as " Uncle Abram," was much elevated on the occasion. He carried the powder in an open tin pail upon his arm, while another, to touch off the gun, carried a stick with fire at the end, kept alive by swinging it through the air. Amid the gen- eral excitement a spark found its way to Uncle Abram's powder about the time the gun was discharged, and his body was seen to rise twenty feet in the air and return by its own gravity to the earth, blackened and des- titute of clothing. He was dead, if his own vociferations were to be believed ; but they were not, and he soon recovered from his wounds.

CLEVELAND IN 1846 .- Cleveland is at the northern termination of the Ohio

498

CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

canal, 139 miles northeast from Columbus, 255 from Cincinnati, 130 from Pitts- burg, 190 from Buffalo, 650 from New York, and 130 from Detroit. It was incorporated as a village in 1814 and as a city in 1836. Excepting a small por- tion of it on the river, it is situated on a gravelly plain elevated about 100 feet above the lake, of which it has a most commanding prospect. Some of the com- mon streets are 100 feet wide, and the principal business one, Main street, has the extraordinary width of 132 feet. It is one of the most beautiful towns in the Union, and much taste is displayed in the private dwellings and disposition of shrubbery. "The location is dry and healthy, and the view of the meanderings of the Cuyahoga river and of the steamboats and shipping in the port, and leav- ing or entering it, and of the numerous vessels on the lake under sail, presents a prospect exceedingly interesting from the high shore of the lake.

Near the centre of the place is a public square of ten acres, divided into four parts by intersecting streets, neatly enclosed and shaded with trees. The court house and one or two churches front on this square.

The harbor of Cleveland is one of the best on Lake Erie. It is formed by the mouth of the Cuyahoga river and improved by a pier on each side, extending 425 yards into the lake, 200 feet apart, and faced with substantial stone masonry. Cleveland is the great mart of the greatest grain-growing State in the Union, and it is the Ohio and Erie canals that have made it such, though it exports much by way of the Welland canal to Canada. It has a ready connection with Pittsburg through the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, which extends from the Ohic canal at Akron to Beaver creek, which enters the Ohio below Pittsburg. The natural advantages of this place are unsurpassed in the West, to which it has a large access by the lakes and the Ohio canal. But the Erie canal constitutes the prin- cipal source of its vast advantages ; without that great work, it would have remained in its former insignificance." The construction of two contemplated railroads, the first connecting Cleveland with Wellsville, on the Ohio, and the last with Columbus, will add much to the business facilities of the place.

The government of the city is vested in a mayor and council, which consists of three members from each of the three wards into which the city is divided, and also an alderman from each ward. The following is a list of the mayors of the city since its organization, with the time of their election : John W. Willey, 1836 and 1837 ; Joshua Mills, 1838 and 1839 ; Nicholas Dockstader, 1840; Jckn W. Allen, 1841 ; Joshua Mills, 1842; Nelson Hayward, 1843; Samuel Stark- weather, 1844 and 1845 ; George Hoadley, 1846, and J. A. Harris, 1847.

The Cleveland medical college, although established but four or five years, is in a very flourishing condition, and has gained so much in public estimation, as to be equalled in patronage by only one or two similar institutions in the West. It has seven professors, and all the necessary apparatus and facilities for instruction.

In 1837 the government purchased nine acres on the height overlooking the lake, for the purpose of erecting a marine hospital ; up to the present time, but little more than the foundation has been laid. It is to be of Iouic architecture, of hewn stone, and will combine convenience and beauty.

Cleveland has a large number of mercantile and mechanical establishments; 4 banks, 3 daily, 6 weekly, and 1 semi-monthly newspaper, and 21 religious socie- ties, viz. : 3 Episcopal, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Cath- olic, 1 Bethel, 1 Wesleyan Methodist, I German Evangelical Protestant, 1 German Mission Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1 German Evangelical Lu- theran, 1 Evangelical Association of North America, 1 Associate Presbyterian, 1 Seceder, 1 Disciples, 1 Jewish, 1 Universalist, and 2 Second Advent. The busi- ness of the port of Cleveland, both by canal and lake, is very heavy, and con- stantly increasing. The number of arrivals by lake, in 1845, was 2,136 ; of these, 927 were steamers. The tonnage then owned at this port amounted to 13,493, and number of vessels of all kinds, 85. The total value of the imports and ex- ports by the lake was over $9,000,000.

499

CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

The population of Cleveland, on the east side of the Cuyahoga, was, in the year 1796, 3; 1798, 16; 1825, 500; 1831, 1,100; 1835, 5,080; 1840, 6,071; and 1846, 10,135. Of the last, 6,780 were natives of the United States; 1,472 of Germany ; 808 of England ; 632 of Ireland ; 144 of Canada ; 97 of the Isle of Man, and 96 of Scotland.

OHIO CITY (united to Cleveland in 1854) is beautifully situated on a command- ing eminenee on the west side of the Cuyahoga, opposite Cleveland. It was in- corporated as a city, March 3, 1836, and its government vested in a mayor and council. The city is divided into three wards, and is well laid ont and built. There are three eliurehes, viz. : 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, and 1 Epis- eopalian-the last of which is a Gothie structure of great beauty. The population of Ohio City, in 1840, was 1,577, and in 1845, 2,462 .- Old Edition.

Cleveland is on the line of seven railroads, viz .: C. & C .; C. C. & C .; C. C. C. & I .; L. S. & M. S .; N. Y. C. & St. L .; N. Y. L. E. & W .; Penn. Co .; V. : in a direct line about 600 miles from New York and 450 from Chicago. County officers in 1888 : Probate Judge, Henry Clay White; Auditor, William H. Brew ; Clerk, Levi E. Meacham ; Proseenting Attorney, Alexander Haddon ; Recorder, Alfred T. Anderson ; Sheriff, Erasmus D. Sawyer ; Surveyor, James F. Brown ; Treasurer, David W. Kimber- MEDICAL COLLEGE. ly ; Commissioners, Alfred A. Jerome, George A. Schlatter- eek, Wilbur Bently.

MEDICAL COLLEGE IN 1846.

The following newspapers are pub- lished in Cleveland : Evening News and Herald, Leader and Morning Herald, Re- publican, daily, Lead- er Printing Com- pany, publishers; Plain-Dealer, Demo- eratie, morning and

evening daily, Plain-Dealer Publishing Company, editors and publishers ; Anzeiger, German Independent Republiean, William Kauffman, editor, Anzei- ger Publishing Company, publishers ; Wächter am Erie, German Democratie, daily, Wächter am Erie Publishing Company, editors and publishers; Press, Independent daily. In addition to the above dailies are 48 weekly, bi-monthly and monthly journals, devoted to commerce, agriculture, religion, seienee, history, temperance, society, etc. Of these, 9 are printed in German, 2 Bohemian, and one devoted to the interests of the colored raee. The official organ of the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers is also published here.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 78

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006