USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > History of Ashtabula County, Ohio > Part 53
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" Standing-Stone was surprised and overjoyed when so unexpected a luxury presented itself as the enjoyment of a few hours, even, of social converse with a woman of his own nation and language to interrupt and cheer tbe gloom of his solitude. She was a Seneca woman of the Sandusky division of that tribe, who had been down to Buffalo, and was returning. The Rev. Mr. Badger and his family were acquainted with her at Sandusky, when they were missionaries there, two years before. She was induced to stop by the good pasturage found here for her horse, and by the knowledge obtained that Mr. Badger resided on the opposite bank of the river.
" Standing Stone invited her to lodge at his camp, which she promised to do, after calling on Mr. Badger and family. She went up and found Mr. and Mrs. Badger and the children glad to give her a hearty welcome and a good supper. After supper and a short social visit, she returned to her friend's camp. In the mean time he had wrought with alacrity and raised, covered, and floored with bark a new hut for her reception, contiguous to his own. Here they spent the night, and talked and talked. The next morning early, a delightful May morning. she saddled and loaded her pony, and, just as the writer returned from breakfast to the store, they made their appearance at the top of the hill, both walking, and she leading her horse. They were engaged in earnest conversation. He was manifestly agitated with opposite emotions,-with delight in her company and conversation, with sorrow for the separation just at hand, which must leave him sad and solitary. They walked and talked ; they came to a log and sat down and talked ; and then another, another, and another. And when she must go, and he could detain her no longer, she mounted her horse and passed on ; he pursued her with his voice until she was beyond hearing, and with his eyes until she was out of sight, and when she could no more be seen he continued for some time looking and languishing. This was an affecting sight !"
Poor fellow ! The war came the next month, and he too, like the rest of his tribe, was gone. No more was seen of the exile or of his companion.
The author of this history has made all the investigation that seems possible in reference to the Indian names which are still lingering on the waters. Mrs. Sigourney's poen is appropriate, but it would be much more satisfactory if we could ascertain the meaning of the names. Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford,
is the best scholar in the Indian languages in the United States. He says in reference to the name Ashtabula : " I never have looked for the meaning of Ash- tabula ; but it certainly does not mean 'many fish' or 'river of many fish' in any Algonquin language, nor can Conneaut have had that meaning. Ashtabula, as we have it, is certainly not Algonquin, but very likely it may be a corruption of some Algonquin name which now can only be guessed at." In reference to the Missisauga tribe, a remnant of which was living in this county as late as 1812, he says, "The Missisaugas (or Massasaugas) were of the group now known as Chippewa (or Ojibwa). The Rev. John Jones, who made the Chippewa translation of St. John's gospel, was a half-hreed Missisauga. The name means 'great outlet.' Whether it was originally given to the mouth of what is now known as Missisauga river, emptying into Manitou bay, I cannot say. The tribe is substantially Chip- pewca, only distantly related to the Shawnee. There is a tradition among the early settlers of this town that the name Ashtabula is Erie. If so, it is the only word which has descended to us, that we know of, from this lost tribe."
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
The first organization of a township, including the present territory of Ashta- bula, was in the year 1800, under the name of Richfield. This town at that time included nearly the whole of Ashtabula County, and was itself only a part of Trumbull county, which included nearly the whole of the Western Reserve. The first organization of the township under its present name was not until the year 1808. The county of Geauga had been formed from the north part of Trumbull in 1805. In pursuance of an order of the commissioners of Geauga county, notice was given to the qualified electors to meet at the house of Captain Fobes, and to organize a new township. The tenants of the log cabins sallied forth with dogs and guns, and made a general rally. A township was organized, and the name of the Ashtabula river was given to it, which in the Indian language was the name for ** fish river."
The township thus organized included Sheffield, Kingsville, Ashtabula, and Plymouth. The following persons were elected the officers of the township thus formed : Clerk, Roger Nettleton ; Trustees, Roger Nettleton, Isaac Harrington, William Perine; Overseers. Henry Gillmore, Gideon Leet ; Appraisers, Matthew Hubhard, Thomas Harrington; Fence Viewers, Walter Fobes, Gideon Leet ; Supervisors of Highways, Joseph Kerr, Gideon Leet, Zechariah Olmstead. Elijah Lewis, Hiram Blackman ; Treasurer, Zechariah Olmstead. The first justices of the peace of the township were William Perine and Gideon Leet. Each person had an office, and some, two or three.
In 1810, Kingsville was organized as a separate township, embracing Shef- field, leaving the territory comprised in the present townships of Plymouth and Ashtabula, Plymouth not being separated until 1838. The population in 1830 was 1631. In 1840. after its separation from Plymouth, 1704. In 1850, 2177. In 1860, 2740. In 1570, 3394.
Mr. O. H. Fitch says, " For many years there was a strong rivalry and some asperity between the two villages (East and West Ashtabula) ; the elections were held alternately on different sides of the river, long after the division of the terri- tory of the township. Thomas Smith, Edwin Wheeler, and Horatio Wilcox were active, intelligent business men, and as long as they lived the rivalry between the two villages was continued. "In 1800," says Esquire Wright, of Conneaut, " Nathan King, Seth Harrington, and myself marked the present Ridge road to Ashtabula. There we met the people of Harpersfield similarly engaged." MIr. W. Harper, of Harpersfield, cut the first tree on Bunker hill for the opening of this road. The first carriage employed in the mail service was about 1811, by Anan Harmon. It was a rude sort of a dug-out. It, however, created as much excitement as the first steamboat on the Hudson.
The old stage-route from Erie to Cleveland was laid out by Aaron Wheeler, Eliphalet Austin, and Solomon Griswold. In the year 1810 there were located in the various parts of the town only about seventy-five families. Rev. Mr. Hall, who settled in the village in 1811, has mentioned the names of these settlers and their locations. Their names are as follows, arranged according to the date of their arrival, with their occupation and State from whence they came :
1804 .- Matthew Hubbard, land-agent and surveyor, Connecticut ; William Perine, surveyor, New York ; Joseph Kerr, shoemaker, Pennsylvania ; Samuel Beckwith, farmer, Connecticut.
1806 .- Seth Thayer, sailor and farmer, Connecticut ; Josbua Rockwell, farmer, New York ; Gideon Leet, postmaster and tavern-keeper, Connecticut ; David Burnet, Josiah White, David White, Samuel White, hunters, Hubbard, Ohio.
1807 .- Enoch Fuller, hired man, New York; Peleg Sweet, Sr., tanner and tavern-keeper, Rhode Island ; John B. Watrous, farmer, Connecticut ; Purchase Sawins, blind farmer, Vermont; Caleb Rockwell, carpenter, Connecticut; Wil- liam Watrous, farmer and cooper, Connecticut ; Isaac Sweet, farmer, Con- necticut.
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
1808 .- William Jones, mechanic and farmer, Connecticut; John R. Read, shoemaker and tanner, Connecticut ; William Starr, sailor, shiftless, Connectieut ; Ebenezer Duty, briek-maker and pettifogger, New Hampshire; Manoah IIub- bard, saw-mill owner, Connecticut ; Manoah Hubbard, Jr., trader, Conncetieut ; Thomas Gordon, farmer, Ireland ; John Gordon, elearing-farmer, Pennsylvania ; Daniel Castle, A. Castle, Jr., New York ; James McDonald, laborer, Maine ; Beverly Starr (went back), Connecticut ; James MeKelvey, works for Mr. Leet, Pennsylvania ; Pelatiah Shepard, elearing land, Connecticut.
1809 .- Nathan Strong, Sr., Samuel Strong, Jabez Strong, clearing a farm, Nathau Strong, Jr., farmer, Connecticut; Hall Smith, merchant, Massachusetts ; Collins Wetmore, farmer, Connecticut; Obed Edwards, farmer, Connectieut ; John McCurrie, an old man, Pennsylvania ; Amasa Castle, Sr., farmer, with his sons, New York ; John N. Murray, school-teacher and hired man, Ireland.
1810 .- Abner Gage, new farm, New Hampshire; Hezodiah Smith, tavern- keeper, New Hampshire; Zach. Woodbury, elearing farm, New Hampshire ; Enoch Stevens, farmer and shoemaker, New Hampshire ; William Woodbury, makes chairs, New Hampshire; Edmund Blood, mechanie, New Hampshire ; David Henry, stone-mason, New Hampshire; Walker Richmond, elearing farm, Vermont ; Isaac Cook, wolf-trapper and pettifogger, Connectieut ; Warner Mann, schoolmaster, Connecticut ; John G. Blakeslee, on a new farm, Connecticut ; Elijah Blaekmar, M.D., lives on new farm, Vermont; Luke Bonesteel, left soon, New York ; Amos Fisk, owns grist-mill, Pennsylvania; Rev. Joseph Badger, missionary, Massachusetts ; Anan Harmon, farmer, Massachusetts; George Mel- vin, returned, Vermont ; Mrs. Rosa Watrons, Connectieut.
By comparing the above with the earefully-prepared list of Matthew Hubbard we find the following additional names of those who had settled in the township prior to 1811, and had either removed or died, or were inadvertently omitted in Rev. Mr. Hall's list, from which the above names are compiled : George Beek- with, settled in 1803, died in 1804; William Thompson and family, settled in 1804, removed in 1806; William Pieree, removed ; Henry Gillman and family and Henry Gilhnan, Jr., and family ; Zachariah Olmstead, removed ; Isaae Hub- bard, settled in 1807 and died in 1809; Reuben Mendell and family, William Gault and family, and Miss Catharine Braddock all settled in 1808; Enoch Ful- ler, Benjamin A. Naper, and Miss Naper were settled in 1809; Wheeler and Nehemiah Woodbury, Nathan Blood, John Watrous, and Ezra Kellogg and fam- ilies settled in 1810.
1811 .- Rev. Mr. Hall, to whom we are indebted for the main faets of this history, says, " Colonel M. Hubbard lived in a framed house. Amos Fisk had one in process of ereetion. William Jones had a frame barn. Gideon Leet, Esq., had a large frame barn and sheds, and Samuel Beekwith also had a frame barn. All other houses and barns were of logs. The inhabitants were many of them very poor, having exchanged their sinall estates with the land proprietors of the east for lands here, with just money enough to transport themselves and their families, and to purchase a year's provisions in the wild and untamed region."
Mr. Hall, who was a elerk in the only store in the place, and was familiar with them all, has divided the population into four classes :
First. Those who had come from the east, mainly from Connecticut, and who owned their own land, for which they had exchanged their old homes, and were struggling to make a new bnt permanent home in the wilderness.
Second. Poor men who had come, and having run in debt for their lands, were struggling to pay for their farms; yet by the slow process of clearing their farms and tilling their land could hardly support their families.
Third. Those who had come as adventurers, mostly young men, some without wives, having neither money nor property, but who took up land, hoping to make improvements on the same, and then sell their claims and improvements to more wealthy emigrants. They gained their living by working for others, while at times elearing their own land.
Fourth. A less numerous elass, persons of more wealth, who became proprie- tors of much of the land, and who ultimately arrived at considerable wealth.
With this population, society must have been somewhat erude and heterogene- ous. It was a serious obstacle to improvement and social progress that the town- ship was so divided by the physical barriers of the Ashtabula river,-those deep gorges which form the channel, ealled gulfs,-which separated the families from one another. Another impediment to growth also was the dense forests, which needed to be cleared before the rich soil which they covered could be serviceable. Nor was the region favorable for the raising of cattle. The forests themselves were the only pastures, and eows would often so wander, and were so long absent, that they entirely dried of their milk. The labor of oxen was indispensable to the preparation of land, but the seareity of feed in the winter made the time of seeding too late to realize the expected harvest. Goods were also very high, or the labor and expense of transportation through the long route from the east made their eost very great. Even when the land began to produce, the farmer
found but little pay for his erops, as there was no market except that made at home, and money was very searee. The prices at this time of grain raised from land were one dollar for wheat, fifty cents for corn, twenty-five eents for oats, four cents per pound for pork, while salt, on the other hand, cost four dollars per barrel. Mr. Hall says of this period, " I do not recollect any farm but that of Gideon Leet, Esq., lying on the east bank of the Ashtabula, one mile above its inouth, which furnished the entire support for its occupants. To make up their deficiencies other farmers purchased of the merchants and proprietors,-Messrs. Hubbard, Smith, and Leet,-or of dealers and older settlers in other localities."
SCENERY.
The scenery in the vicinity of Ashtabula was very wild. The elk and deer and very numerous bears had gathered into the marshes and meadows in great numbers to feast upon the high whortle-brush and cranberries. In winter they would burrow and make beds in the wild grass of the marshes south of the town, -now Plymouth. The beavers were common. They formed their dams on the small streams, and overflowed the lands in the north part of the town. Turkeys and other wild game were found in the forests, and supplied settlers with food. A number of the first settlers did nothing else but lead the wild life of hunters, and the Indians made it a favorite ground for eatching game.
No town in northern Ohio presents more variety of scenery than does this. The presence of the lake-shore, and the deep gorges which form the channel of the Ashtabula river, conspire to make it romantie and picturesque. The valleys of the streams here also become rich bottom lauds, where the crooked line of the river itself winds among the overhanging branches of maple, oak, and sycamore. These gorges which are thus formed by the river and its branches are very wild and romantie. They are called " gulfs," and are properly named, for they might well have proved insurmontable barriers to those who were on the different sides. These gorges surrounded the village on the south side, and divided the settlement into two separate villages, while another little village at the mouth of the ereck is called the Harbor, making in all three parts, around which the population has gathered. The ridges through which the gorges pass serve also to give additional beauty to the seenery, situated as they are on the south side of the village, and overhanging the wild gorges, whose lofty summits present an enchanting view of the surrounding country.
The village cemetery is situated on this ridge, and few spots preseut a more charming landscape than this does. It overhangs the gorges of the river where the dark forms of the lofty pine-trees east their shadows down npon the deep forests below ; but in front the village itself spreads out to view its white houses along the stream as it winds to the eastward and among the green foliage of its tree-lined streets. In the distance beyond the village the blue expanse of the lake stretches far away to the northward, while the forms of vessels are seen pass- ing to and fro, their white sails contrasting with the blue waters.
The Ashtabula river winds its devious way from its sources in the borders of Pennsylvania through Richmond, Pierpont, Monroe, and Sheffield townships until it reaches Ashtabula township. Ilere it comes in contact with the barriers of the north and south ridges, but passes by a erooked route through, thus leaving the banks great precipiees on either side, and so makes its way to the lake.
The ridges themselves, which stretch along parallel with the coast of the lake two and three miles distant from the water, form also outlines which give a relief to the scenery and surmount the wild gorges with their rolling summits. Thus we have a mingled scene of beauty and grandeur, the element of fear lurking in the wild depths, but of pleasure lingering on the geutle declivities.
THE TIMES WHICH FOLLOWED THE WAR OF 1812.
It is remarkable how history repeats itself. The War of 1776, that of 1812, the Mexican war of 1849, and the War of the Rebellion of 1861, were all attended with similar results. They were each snecessful. They enlarged the borders of our country. They established the national strength and unity, but they were followed by financial distress and long depression among the people. The War of 1812 was not an exception. Before the war, the farmers had small quantities of produce to sell. They could obtain from Hall Smith, Ashtabula's first merehant, at this time, the nominal sum of one dollar per bushel for wheat, twenty-five cents for oats, four eents a pound for pork ; though the prices of salt and sugar, groceries and cloths, were, owing to transportation, very high. During the war the prices of produce were tripled. The increased eirculation of money made everything seein very profitable to the producer. But the war closed. Merchants had contraeted for large amounts, but found the demands for their supplies had ecased. The eireulation of war money eeased. Property had to be disposed of. Priees fell to one-fourth of what they had been. A great stagnation of business followed. Busi- ness men were driven to great straits, and some of them to bankruptcy. The- war had stopped migration also, and there was no market for produec. It is said
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
that at this time the farmers, in order to sell their grain and so save transporta- tion. resorted to the expedient of reducing the grains, such as rye and corn, to whisky, and in the course of the next ten or fifteen years many distilleries were erected. This was shipped in the form of high wines to an eastern market, while a considerable quantity of the whisky itself was shipped west. Some of it found a ready market at home, to the injury of health, wealth, and the inorals of the people. This manufacture of whisky from the grains raised seemed at the time almost a matter of necessity. We must remember that there was no such sentiment about liquor-drinking as at the present time. It is probable that the good old rye whisky was much more harmless than the present poisonous stuff, which is drugged and diluted until it has but a small portion of the extracts of the grain. Whisky was commonly used as a ber- erage. It was no uncommon sight. when the country was new, to see families or neighbors gather around a table where the bottle of whisky and tumblers were placed, and for the father of the household to ask a blessing on what they were going to receive with as much sincerity as one would at the present time over an ordinary meal. For a long time it was an article of merchan- dise among the better class of citizens in Ashtabula Couuty. There are merchants now living in Ashtabula and other towns who loaded whole vessels with whisky in the form of high wines. The traffic continued as late as 1837 or 1840, and the vessel which was wrecked, in which Wm. Humphrey lost his wife, had a load of whisky in its hold and of hogs on its deck. And Mr. H. L. Morrison speaks of assisting to load a vessel in which oats were turned in loose among the whisky- barrels and beef and pork were placed upon the decks. The times which followed the War of 1812 were more distressing from the fact that the country was so new. Improvements had just been made; expenses in forming new homes had been great ; land had just been cleared, and the products were necessarily limited. The amount of money which the settlers handled at this time was distressingly small. Some farmers had hardly enough to pay their postage, and when their taxes became due it was a question how to raise the money. There were not many who lost their farms, though it required great industry and economy to pay for them. In some cases the farmers had to pay for their land twice, but not in Ashtabula. This was true in Saybrook, in Wayne, and in some other townships. But the thrift and energy of the people were manifest from the fact that not- withstanding the depressiou of the times and the scarcity of money, they were thus able to clear themselves from debt and make for themselves homes so com- fortable. We must picture to ourselves the country as occupied by log houses and the people dressed in homespun, while their homes were furnished in the plainest style, without carpets, and the table provided with plain though whole- some food.
TWO PICTURES.
"'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
We love to look at those early scenes. Each epoch has its attractions for us, whether memory or fancy pictures them to our mind. The year 1812 and the year 1837 present different views of the town to our vision. The first was the age of log houses. The forests were still covering the land. Roads were only paths broken through the wilderness. The harbor is a mere opening into the creek. Three little hamlets are scattered about at different points in the township, at either side of the river, and at its mouth. Log taverns are standing in these villages. and the blazing fireplace. with the whisky toddy and a rough, hearty welcome from the landlord, form attractions peculiar to the time. On the east side, about one mile from the lake, was a log tavern, kept by Gideon Leet. There is a farm on the bank of the river. belonging to Anan Harmon. Towards the lake, on the same side, there are two or three log houses and one or two frame barns. A log school-house has been built near the public square, and meetings are held there. On the west side is the house of Hall Smith, near where MIr. George Willard now lives. On the opposite side of the road is a frame store,-the store of the place. Mr. Smith's farm is situated on both sides of Lake street, and extends as far as Division street and toward the lake beyond the present site of the Lake Shore railroad. A burying-ground has been given on the brow of the hill on the east side of Main street, opposite the intersection of Lake street, but was afterwards exchanged for a site in the rear of the present school buildings. On Lake street towards the depot is situated the Badger house, the same one which is now standing. The Fisk property is situated south of Division street, taking in nearly all of what constitutes the business portion of the place. West of the Fisk farm is property belonging to Matthew Hubbard. A road, which is now Main street, runs along the edge of the bluff, and underneath the bluff is a small grist-mill. This is situated a little south of the livery-stable. A road, also, which corresponds to Prospect street runs along the north ridge from Main street through Division. The remainder northi was laid out years after. On this road are the farms of Nathan Strong. Jr., Jabez Strong, and Samuel Strong. There is at
this time but one frame house on Bunker hill, that belonging to Matthew Hubbard. That built by Deacon Amos Fisk was standing on Main street nearly opposite the present Fisk house, and is the building, removed and altered, at present occupied by Paul Ford as a harness-shop. With the exception of these few there are no frame houses in the township. There is not a church building in the place, and scarcely a school-house. A log building has been erected upon Bunker hill, and Miss Lucy Badger is teaching the school. Other log school-houses situated in dif- ferent localities in the midst of the woods. The only road to the harbor is also upon the east side. The land towards the west, in the neighborhood of where Centre street now is, was a dense swamp, so wet as to be almost impassable. From Prospect street to the depot the woods were thick and massive, mainly grown up to hemlocks. It was but a little hamlet and rudely constructed. On the bluffs certaiu men lived by hunting. Women go to church on horseback. Children sit on slab-benches at school, and the houses are primitive. It is an era of log houses, maple-sugar, and homespun.
We pass now over a period of twenty-five years. This brings us to the year 1837, another epoch in the history of the township. During this period great progress has been made in the country at large, and especially in the west. We now find that canals have been opened in different parts of the country. Naviga- tion has increased both upon the Ohio river and the inland lakes. The harbors have been improved. Steamboats have been introduced, one built at this port. Sail vessels are traversing the lakes. Railroads have been projected. In this county a turnpike has been built. Ashtabula has become a point of considerable importance. It is even talked of as a prospective city. The railroad projected to the Ohio river is to be called the Liverpool road, and Ashtabula Harbor is to be called Manchester. Thus in the woods of Ohio we are to have a second Man- chester and Liverpool. Speculation has run high all over the land. Immense debts have been accumulated. Great enterprises have failed. The balloon col- lapses. People come to solid ground again. They find that castles in the air are not substantial.
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