Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 91

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

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September 19, 1864, the steamer "Philo Parsons," plying between Detroit, Sandusky and the adjacent islands, was boarded at Sandwich on the Canadian shore by four men, and at Malden by twenty more, who brought an old trunk with them. No sus- picions were aroused, as large numbers of fugitives were constantly travelling to and from Canada at that time. After leaving

Kelley's Island, the clerk, who was in com- mand of the boat, was suddenly confronted by four men with revolvers pointed at his head, the old trunk was opened, the whole party armed themselves, and with Beall at their head took possession of the boat. Her course was altered and turned back to Middle Bass Island. Here the "Island Queen," a boat plying among the islands, came along- side; she was immediately boarded, and al- though her captain (G. W. Orr) made a de- termined resistance, she was soon at the mercy of the conspirators, together with a large number of passengers. The engineer of the "Queen," refusing to do the bidding of the captors, was shot through the cheek.

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But no discourtesy was offered to any one of us beyond the absolute necessity of the case, the conspirators being la: gely educated men from the best families of the South.

An oath of secrecy for twenty-four hours was extorted from the passengers, and they were then put ashore, the captain of the "Queen " being retained as pilot, a capacity in which he refused to act. The two steamers were then lashed together and put off toward Sandusky ; but after proceeding a few miles the "Island Queen" was scuttled and the "Parsons" continued alone; she did not en- ter, but cruised around the mouth of San- dusky Bay, waiting for the signal from the conspirators on land. That part of the plot had, however, failed.

A Confederate officer named Cole, to whom the operations at Sandusky had been en- trusted, had, as a Titusville oil man, been figuring very largely in social circles, a liberal entertainer, giving wine suppers and spend- ing money very freely. He had formed the acquaintance of the officers of the "Michi- gan" and had invited them to a wine supper on the evening of September 19th. The wine was drugged, and when the officers had succumbed to it a signal was to notify Beall, who was then to make the attack on the 'Michigan." But Cole had performed bis part of the plan in such a bungling manner that the suspicions of the officers were aroused and the commanding officer of the "Michigan," Capt. Carter, arrested him on suspicion at the very moment when success seemed assured.

In the meanwhile Beall and his comrades waited outside the bay for the signal ; but, as the time for it passed by and it was not given, they realized that the plot had failed, and made for the Canadian shore, passing Middle Bass Island, where he had left the "Island Queen" and "Parsons" passengers, who saw the "Parsons" pass "with fire pouring out of her smoke-stacks, and mak- ing for Detroit like a scared pickerel." The captain and others who had been kept to manage the "Parsons," were put off on an uninhabited island, and when the Cana- dian shore was reached, she was scuttled and the conspirators disbanded.

This daring venture excited great conster- nation among the lake cities and served to cali attention to their defenseless condition.

Beal! was captured a few months later, near Suspension Bridge, charged with being a spy both in Ohio and New York, also with an attempt to throw an express train from the track between Dunkirk and Buffalo. He confessed to much of the evidence brought against him, was found guilty and hung on Governor's Island, February 24, 1865.

Cole after being arrested managed to warn his accomplices in Sandusky, of whom he had a great number, and who, thus warned, escaped arrest. He himself was confined for some time on board the "Michigan," after- ward transferred to the island, then to Fort Lafayette in September, 1865, and was ulti- mately released after the close of the war.

The treatment of the rebel prisoners on Johnson's Island was considerate even to the verge of indulgence; their wants were said to have been better filled than those of the soldiers guarding them ; this was owing to their being supplied plentifully with money by their friends ; they were well fed, clothed and housed and were allowed every privilege consistent with security.

The prisoners were all confined within an enclosure of about eighteen acres surrounded by a stockade eighteen feet high, made of plank, with a platform near the top, about four feet wide, where the sentinels walked. This is shown in the engraving. At the east and west corner was a block-house with small brass cannon. The soldiers' and officers' quarters of the guard were at the left of the enclosure. The open space shown by the flag was the parade ground. On the left of the road was a line of small buildings, huck- sters' shops, etc. Beyond appears Fort Hill. It was an earthwork and mounted a few guns. The graveyard was in the grove on the extreme right, where to this day are relics.

TRAVELLING NOTES.

Sandusky impresses one with the extreme solid appearance of its business and public buildings. It is because the whole city lies upon an inexhaustible quarry of the finest limestone, and all the people have to do for structures is to blast and rear. The outlook upon its harbor is extremely pleasant ; it is so expanded and well defended. In the very heats of summer the breezes come from the lake with a refreshing coolness, while the thought that steamers are continually plying to the beautiful cluster of islands beyond the bay to give the visitor any needed change he may require of scene, adds to the attractions of the city as he may walk its solidly lined streets.

Four things come in mind in connection with Sandusky, viz., lumber, fish, lime, and grapes. It is a great lumber mart, the lum- ber coming mainly from Michigan, and it is the greatest fish market on the globe. Vast quantities of lime are burnt, especially over on the peninsula, that body of land forming the western boundary of the bay, and put on the map as Ottawa county ; and as to grapes, there seems to be no end. In this county alone the vineyards aggregate nearly five square miles, viz., 3,082 acres. In 1885 the amount of wine manufactured amounted to 71,170 gallons. One gentleman in Sandusky, Gen. Mills, an octogenarian, has in a single body a vineyard of eighty acres, the largest, I believe, in Ohio. From this he makes a superior article of sparkling Catawba wine- "Mills' Brand "-that, having once tasted for "medicinal purposes only," a Rechabite in temperance in a season of despondency would be sorely tempted for a revivification merely to yield his willing lips. The general tells me there is no money in the manufacture of this, a pure, honest article. The public demand is for cheap wines. The consequence

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is they largely get adulterations, with which any vineyard has but slight connection, and as a return for their parsimony, the imbib- ants suffer from disordered stomachs and splitting headaches.

Looking on the map again one will see forming the east boundary of the bay a strip of land about three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide, terminating in a point, called Cedar Point, on or near which is a lighthouse. In the summer season a steamer, the " R. B. HAYES," continually passes to and from the city, carrying parties thither for picnics in the groves and bathing. The beach there on the lake side is safe and beautiful for bathing, and so expansive the view that one standing there is affected by the same emotion as if gazing upon the ocean.

Johnson's Island, at the mouth of the har- bor, is in plain sight from the dock at San- dusky. It will always be an object of interest to travellers as the spot where the officers of the Confederate army were confined. Mr. Leonard Johnson, son of the owner of the island, has given me some interesting items. He was then a boy of about eight years, and often went into the prison with his elder brother.

The prisoners were always glad to see chil- dren, welcomed, and petted them. For amusement they had athletic games and theatricals. In summer, he told me, they were allowed to bathe in the lake, about 100 at a time, under guard. One of their amuse- ments was whittling and carving finger-rings, watch-charms, etc., from gutta-percha but- tons, their work being sometimes very in- genious and beautiful.

The guard were principally men recruited for this purpose in the lake neighborhood, and many had their families on the island.

Two men were drummed off the island- one for stealing blankets, and the other a teamster, for an offence of a different charac- ter. The latter had a placard in front and one in the rear proclaiming his malfeasance thus :

I SOLD WHISKEY TO THE REBELS.

His hands were tied behind, and he was marched in the middle of a squad of soldiers, with their bayonets pointed toward him, those in front having their guns reversed. To the music of drums and fifes he was conducted to the boat, thence through the streets of Sandusky to the depot. It was an occasion of great fun and frolic, and the derisive shouts of the following crowd added to the mortifi- cation of the teamster, who was employed to cart away offal, but "Sold whiskey to the rebels."

Prominent among the public men in San- dusky at the time of my original visit was

ELEUTHEROS COOKE, born in Granville, N. Y., in 1787, died in Sandusky in 1864 : a large, fine-looking, enthusiastic gentleman, social, pleasing to meet, and universally re- spected. He was by profession a lawyer, was in the State Legislature and in Congress, and a pioneer in railroad enterprises, having been the projector of the Mad River railroad. He had a wonderful command of language, was an orator very flowery and imaginative, and indulged largely in poetical similes. On an occasion in Congress, when Mr. Stanberry, of Ohio, wasassaulted on Pennsylvania avenue by Felix Houston, of Texas, for words spoken in debate, he declared, in a speech, that if freedom of discussion was denied them he would "flee to the bosom of his constitu- ents," an expression that his political oppo- nents ran the changes upon for a long time after.

He could talk for hours upon any given topic, and on an occasion when it was neces- sary to get a new writ from Norwalk to detain for debt an arrested steamboat man with his vessel, he talked to the court sixteen hours continuously to stave off a decision upon the defective writ by which he was held. In order to illustrate the legal question before the court, he had gone into a review of the history of the human race, and got from the Creation down to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus when the necessary papers arrived ; then he stopped the harangue, allowed the old writ to be squelched, the new writ was then served, when the defendant paid his debt, and sailed away in his steamer.

Mr. Cooke had one trouble-it was life- long-stuck to him closer than a brother. It was in his name, Eleutheros. He was born in 1787, the year of the framing of the Fed- eral Constitution, and the name was given in commemoration : it was from a Greek term signifying to set free. It showed his parents must have been fanciful and so he got his name alike with poetical tendencies from them. But the name liked to have been his ruin, that is political ruin. He lost one election by its misspelling, more particularly by the German voters. They spelt it in various ways, taking with it most unwarrantable liberties-spelling it "Luther," "Lutheros," " " Eilutheros,' "Eilros," etc. When he had boys of his own, taking warning from experience, he started them with names after great states- men. The first was Pitt Cooke, the second was Jay Cooke, and the third was to have bcen, perhaps, Fox Cooke, or something like it, when the mother rebelled and the child was given the good old-fashioned name of Henry D. Cooke. Pitt died at fifty ; he was a partner with his brothers in the banking busi- ness. Henry D. became an eminent journalist, had an interesting and valuable life ; was the first Governor of the District of Columbia, ap- pointed by Graut, and died in 1881. The history of Jay Cooke, the great financier of our civil war, is dwelt upon under the head of Ottawa county, where lies Gibraltar, his beau- tiful summer island home in the lake, where he entertains his friends with abounding hos-

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OSS KNE TONY

DEPOT OF CONFEDERATE PRISONERS, JOHNSON'S ISLAND, SANDUSKY BAY.

[Like all prisoners held under the American Flag, those at Johnson's Island were given confortable quarters and good food, with occasional bathing in the lake; but being mostly officers, the gentlemen of the Confederate Army, they nade no complaint because not allowed fishing privileges therein.]

W. A. Bishop, Photo., Sandusky City. INSCRIPTION ROCK, KELLEY'S ISLAND.

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pitality and recreates with much fishing in prolific waters.

In my original visit to Sandusky there was also residing here EBENEZER LANE, whose acquaintance I had the privilege of making. He was among the most eminent legal men of Ohio of that day : profound in scholarship and frank and cordial in his ways. In five minutes I felt as though we had been lifelong friends. His brothers in the profession idol- ized him. He was born in Northampton in 1793, graduated at Harvard in 1811, studied law under his uncle, Matthew Griswold, of Lyme, Conn. ; early came to Ohio, was soon judge of Common Pleas, and from 1843 until 1845 judge of the Supreme Court, when he retired from the bench to give his attention to the railroad development of this region.

Sandusky never dreamed but what she would be the terminus of the Ohio canal. It was the shortest and direct distance across the State from the mouth of the Scioto on the Ohio to the lake, and its harbor expansive and safe. Instead of that, mainly through the efforts of Alfred Kelly, who then resided there and was one of the canal commissioners, Cleveland was made its terminus; thus in- creasing the distance by a winding tortuous course of perhaps thirty or more miles, yet bringing the canal nearer the big wheat fields and coal beds, and accommodating a larger farming population, a more densely settled older country.

The canal was a prime factor in making

Cleveland the great lake city of the State. The people of Sandusky felt keenly its loss as a cruel wrong, and with the hope of re- trieving the disaster started the earliest in rail- road construction ; so Judge Lane, prompted by public spirit, left the bench to exert his powers in that direction, in the course of which he became President of the Lake Erie and Mad River Railroad, a link in the first con- tinuous railroad line across the State.

Cleveland was also on the alert in railroad construction, but a little behind Sandusky, and tapping the great coal-fields of south- eastern Ohio and bringing down the iron of Lake Superior got a power for the lead that was irresistible. The diversion of Judge Lane from his profession was a loss to his fame, as otherwise his reputation would have become national, from his unquestionably great powers.

On the publication of my original edition, I got four of those whom I regarded as the most influential men of the Ohio of that day to unite in a joint recommendation, two Demo- crats and two Whigs. Those four were Sam- uel Medary, of Columbus, editor of the Ohio Statesman, called the " Old Wheel Horse of the Democracy," Governor Reuben Wood, of Cleveland, the "Tall Chief of the Cuya- hogas," Thomas Corwin, of Lebanon, "The Wagon Boy," and Ebenezer Lane, of San- · dusky, and there I rested, fortified as the book was by a "Wheel Horse," a " Cuyahoga Chief," a "Wagon Boy," and a "Judge.'

MILAN IN 1846 .- 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 bank of Huron river. The engraving on next page shows its appearance from a hill near the road to Sandusky City, and a few rods back of Kneeland Townsend's old distillery building, which appears in 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. Population about 100 .- Old Edition.

Milan is 8 miles south of Lake Erie, on the Huron river, 55 miles west of Cleveland, on the line of the N. & H. and N. Y. St. L. and C. Railroads. It was before the days of railroads a great grain depot, the grain product of several neigh- boring counties being brought in wagons here for shipment by river and canal. Some of the wagons had in them loads of a hundred bushels of grain and were drawn by four or six horses. Six hundred wagons have arrived in a day. As many as twenty sail vessels have been loaded in a single day, and 35,000 bushels of grain put on board.

Newspapers : Advertiser, Wickham & Gibbs, publishers. Churches : 1 Presby- terian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Catholic. Bank : Milan Bank- ing Company, James C. Lockwood, president ; L. L. Stoddard, cashier. Indus- tries : 2 flouring mills, 1 tile factory, 1 spoke factory, and Stoakes' Automatic Pen Factory.

The Western Reserve Normal School, 75 pupils, B. B. Hall, principal, is lo- cated here.

Population in 1880, 797. School census in 1886, 225 ; Jolin R. Sherman, super- intendent.

Appended is a historical and descriptive sketch of the village and township given to the old edition by Rev. E. Judson, of Milan.

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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, under the superintendence of Rev. Christian Frederic Dencké, a Moravian missionary. The Indian name of the town was Petquot- ting. The mission was established here in 1804. Mr. Dencké brought with him several families of Christian Indians, from the vicin- ity 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 commence- ment of the white settlements induced them,

in 1809, to emigrate with their missionary to Canada. There was a Moravian mission at- tempted as early as 1787. A considerable party of Christian Indians had been driven from their settlement at Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas river, by the inhnman butch- ery 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 ("Pilgrim's rest.") They were soon driven from this post, whence they came to the Huron, aud commenced a settle- ment on its east bank, and near the north

Drawn by Henry Howe, 1846 MILAN FROM NEAR THE SANDUSKY CITY ROAD.

line of the township. To this village they gave the name of New Salem. Here the labors of their indefatigable missionary 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 town- ship, is distinctly marked at short intervals by the remains of a former race. Mounds and enclosures, 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 sum- mer of the following year David Abbott pur- chased 1800 acres, in the northeast section of the township, and lying on both sides of the Huron, for the purpose of commencing a settlement. 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 hostilities 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 in- habitants. 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. Oeeasional 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 town- ship, 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 imme- diate danger, on a pleasant morning in the fall of 1812, left the block-house and wan- dered 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

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seems, had been for some time watching for their prey ; one of them, named Seymour, was killed on the spot ; the other was recog- nized by one of the Indians, made a captive and treated kindly. The Indian who cap- tured him had been a frequent guest in the family where the young man had resided.

Some time 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, supposed at the time to be insti- gated 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 alarm. In Angust Gen. Hull surrendered Detroit to the British, and from this time to the achievement of Perry's victory, in September of the follow- ing year, the inhabitants were in constant apprehension for their personal safety. The sighing of the breeze and the discharge 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 constant 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 inter- vals, 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 enterprising spirit. The town of Milan was "laid out" in 1816 by Ebenezer Merry, who had two years pre- viously removed to its township. Mr. Merry was a native of West Hartford, in Connecti- cut, and by his example contributed much, as the proprietor of the town, to promote good morals among the early inhabitants. He took measures immediately for the erec- tion of a flouring-mill and saw-mill, which contributed materially to the improvement 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 endur- ance was greatly heightened by the anticipated smiles of a group of little ones, whose sub- sistence for weeks together had been venison and hominy.

Mr. Merry was a man of acute observation, practical benevolence and unbounded hospi- tality. He repeatedly represented the county in the legislature of the State, was twice elected to a seat on the bench of the common pleas, an honor in both instances declined. He died Jannary 1, 1846, at the age of 73, greatly beloved.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 91

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