History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, Part 54

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 458

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The picture of these times has been presented by those who are familiar with the scenes. It is no fancy sketch. However shadowy their anticipations were, memory presents the reality. Yet there are attractions about the place at this time. It has outgrown the age of log houses. It has come to the period of framed dwellings. Like the prehistoric races who had their stone age, bronze age, and iron age, the historic race has had its different periods. We are living now in the time of brick houses, have not reached the period of stone fronts or iron palaces, but we must remember that each period had its attractions. The framed houses that were built along the streets of Ashtabula village contain many happy homes. The village at this time consisted of Main street, Prospect street, Lake street, Division street, and the various roads that lead out of town. The North and South squares are laid out. The cemetery is in the rear of the present site of the school-houses. Prospect street is extended in a straight line to Lake street. The mill is in the same place. A turnpike passes through Main street, crosses the river by a bridge at the same place. There are stores scattered along Main street in different places. The Ashtabula House is fifty feet in the rear of the same place where it is now. The Fisk House is in existence. It was occupied by the family of Amos Fisk, and is a brick building, but has not been used as a hotel. There is a row of stores, one story high, corner of Main and Spring streets, called Mechanics' row. There are several stores on Main street between North and South park, and residences extend up Main street toward Bunker hill. The village is very small.

The Fisk farm includes the central part of the village, and a portion of it has been run into lots and is called " Fisk's Plat." A swamp lies between Para street and the place where the Ashtabula, Youngstown and Pittsburgh depot is now situ- ated. The old village of 1812 has now extended up the street two or three blocks. The dwellings are all small, most of them are one story, and are mainly scattered along one street. There is at this time a church building situated on the corner of the North square, about opposite the present site of the Baptist church. This is the first house of worship erected in the village. It was a Baptist church, built entirely through the benevolence of Amos Fisk. There was also a chapel belonging to the Methodist society standing on the bank of the river opposite the South park. This building is now standing on Main street, though unoccupied. The former building was moved across the street, and is now used as one of tbe school-houses.

The Ashtabula academy is also standing; is on Main street at the corner of North park, and a school is taught in it by Mr. William F. Hubbard. This building was erected through the benevolenee of a few individuals. It is the same building which is now used as the Firemen's hall and town-house, lately moved from the corner of Main street to a position in the rear. It was a long time used for schools, township meetings, religious assemblies, and Masonic meetings. Messrs. Hubbard, Booth, aud Smith were the gentlemen who built

RES. OF J. P. JENNINGS, ASHTABULA, OHIO.

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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.

it. It was finally sold for one hundred and fifty dollars to the borough. This is one of the oldest public buildings in the town. It was erected in 1819. There is at this time, too, the church building belonging to the parish of St. Peter,-the same building which now stands on the South park, and was erected in 1829. There are many buildings still standing which are relics of those by-gone days, and one in wandering about the village may occasionally come upon these old land- marks.

The view of the surrounding country at this time is quite in contrast with the former picture. The land is nearly all cleared up; the farms are improved ; frame buildings have taken the place of the old log houses, and the region has much more the appearance of an old country. It is no longer a backwoods re- gion, but improvement and close communication with the rest of the world now prevail. Steamboats come into the harbor regularly, one every day from each direction. Vessels make this harbor a port of entry, and Ashtabula is well known as a point of shipment, and also of transhipment for the country south, for a dis- tance of thirty or forty miles. A large amount of glass is brought here from Pitts- burgh to supply home demand and for shipment from the Harbor.

Four- and six-horse teams, with their wide Dutch harness and great wagons called " Pennsylvania schooners," are oceasionally seen in the streets. These teams are the peculiar institutions of the time. The horses are driven by one rein, as mule teams were in the army, and their loads were about equal to a small schooner. They are said to have carried about onc ton to a horse. The products of the country were nearly all brought to Ashtabula, although Conneaut at this time continued quite a sharp rivalry with the village. It is rather remarkable that the products of this country at that time were all carried west. Many car- gocs of beef and pork, and flour and grain and whisky, with glass and other com- modities, were sent from this port to the west. Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Chicago received a portion of their supplies from this vicinity. Detroit also was in a degree dependent upon Ohio for provisions. Stoves in large quantities were shipped east. The trade of the place was extensive. Persons came as far as from Trumbull eounty to trade, and from all over the county. There was a great financial revulsion in 1837, but it did not seem to affect Ashtabula as much as some other places, perhaps for the reason that there was not so much speeulation here.

THE GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE.

The progress of settlement and improvement from 1837 to 1861, and so on to the present time, has been gradual and healthful. No time of spasmodic growth has appeared and no very great revulsion has oeeurred. Ashtabula has always been one of the conservative towns which held its own during various changes.

This was the era of building railroads. Three different roads were projeeted during the time, and one of them was built. This was the present Lake Shore railroad, known first as the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula railroad. It is remarkable what a change railroads made in the commerce of the eountry. There were actually more steamboats which came into Ashtabula harbor in 1837 than at any other time.

The efforts of the citizens were really earnest to secure a road to the south, but capital was limited, and the eounty was hardly equal to it, so that the hard times that followed after 1837 and 1857 paralyzed all efforts for publie improvement. The Lake Shore, then the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula railroad, had many stockholders in this place, but it ean hardly be ealled an advantage, for eapital was invested in that and manufacturing was delayed. During this time the growth of the place was considerable. Nearly all the present town plat was then laid out; the streets were located and named ; the farms that were then cultivated on the site of the present village disappeared, and gave place to residences ; ehurehes were ereeted ; school-houses built; briek buildings began to appear ; blocks of stores lined Main street, and the place presented very much the appear- ance in 1861 that it does at present. Some of the churches were ereeted during this period, the Methodist and Congregational being built during the war of 1861. It was a period of great agitation on the anti-slavery question,-a time when political excitement ran high. Anti-slavery societies were organized. The underground railroad was a part of the time in working order, and then was superseded by the more open discussion. The Kansas excitement arose. John Brown's raid oceurred. All of these questions kept the publie mind excited. There were some divisions of sentiment in the community. Churches had their divisions, and parties went from one to the other, or organized into new soeieties.

It is rather remarkable that during this time the Fourth of July was oceasion- ally observed in this village in holding anti-slavery conventions. The jubilant enthusiasm of the anniversary settled down into very sober discussion. It is actually recorded that a prayer-meeting and an anti-slavery convention were held in this village on that day.

The war broke out. The citizens of Ashtabula were stirred in common with the other towns of the county. Many of them enlisted and entered the army. Some

laid down their lives in defense of their country. The cemetery ou Chestnut hill contains the bodies of many brave boys who lost their lives on the field ; others are marked only by the memory of friends, and perhaps not even a head-stone in- dicates their graves on southern soil. Many hearts still hleed at the memory of those days. The youth of our land went out clothed with all the panoply of war, and glory shone brightly before them, but the habiliments of mourning followed in their train, and they returned no more to greet their friends. Homes were made desolate ; sorrow sat by the side of many a hearthstone; mothers wept in secret ; fathers felt great anxiety and buried their grief in silence. But the country was delivered. In the baptism of blood it was cleared from its great sin, and the stain of slavery was washed away from our banners. Ashtabula had a noble record during the war. We need not to mention their names ; all honor be to their memory. Their praises still follow them. The great army roll-the roll of honor which appears in the general history-contains the record of them.

From the year 1861 to 1878 Ashtabula has probably made more advance than during any other period. The building of two lines of railroads to the south and the establishment of manufactories in the place has introduced a new era. The population of the village has doubled within the last five years. Every branch of industry has received a new impetus. The harbor has again assumed its old im- portance, and the same advantages which were recognized at the outset have asserted themselves. The " mills of the gods" grind slowly but exceedingly fine. It has taken three-quarters of a century for the advantages of position to combine against adverse influences and rival interests. But at length, in the progress of events, the location of this place on the lakes, its favorable harbor, the proximity to the Ohio river, the position on a central route east and west, have all combined to lay the foundations of a growth which cannot be supplanted. The tree of its existence is rooted deeply in the past; it is watered by the fates ; its leaves will grow for the blessing of the nation ; its branches are over many waters, and its prosperity is sure. It is like the fabled tree of Iggrasil, which was the Scan- dinavian tree of life. The giants of frost and the furies of fire may attack it, and the serpent of evil may gnaw at its root, but it must grow, for the element of life and vigor is in it, and it is too well rooted to be destroyed. The present generation may pass away as others have donc, and their anticipations may not be realized in their day, but as sure as the growth of our country is to continue, so the growth of this place must keep pace. We know of nothing that ean arise to hinder its steady progress. Each generation lays the foundation for another, but the progress is transmitted. It is now entering upon its third or fourth stage of prosperity, and the different eras can be seen around it as plainly as the growth of a tree can be marked by its eireles. The age of logs, of wood, and of brick may be seen in our midst. The past few years have presented the buildings and manufactories and publie improvements which are the prestiges of what is to come,-the forerunners of an era which is to follow in the history of the place. So the character of the place ehanges not, but partakes of the inner, social, moral, religious life of its inhabitants. The inner history is written in the heart of the Almighty. He knows the secret workings of humanity. He knows the end from the beginning. Our history has heen external. Each one has known his own inner history, and it cannot be written. We turn now to special depart- ments, to give the history of each by itself.

ASHTABULA HARBOR.

This village, recently included within the limits of Ashtabula eity, was at an early day one of the important points in this region.

A large share of the commerce of the county for a timc concentrated here. The shipping of staves, timber, and lumber at the very outset, and the exporting afterwards of pork, beef, flour, potash, high wines, and whisky, made it a point for lading vessels, as well as a changing place for travel.

The transportation of merchandise and supplies for the south also brought many teams to the place. The steamers that navigated the lakes thirty years ago nearly all made the Harbor a regular stopping-place.

It early had quite a fleet of sail-craft of its own, while its exports invited here many foreign vessels. This prosperous condition of affairs continued nearly thirty years.

Among the causes of its decline was the diversion of the commerce of the region south about Pittsburgh and Warren to other directions. The building of the Lake Shore railroad materially diminished the business of the Harbor. It continued to be the residenee of a few families who were partakers of its early prosperity. Some of the men who had made their homes there were formerly captains of vessels, and found a retired and pleasant place of residence, and were close by the element which they loved.

One firm remained here, which is the oldest firm in Ashtabula County, now over forty ycars in existence. We refer to the firm of Hubbard & Company. These two men, Henry Hubbard and Joseph D. Hulbert, have, however, through

136

HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.

all the long years been hopeful for the future of the Harbor. This struggle of the energies of man with adverse circumstances is one of the saddest though grandest spectacles of human life. The project of uniting Lake Erie with the Ohio river by rail was one to which these men have clung with an unshaken faith. Its accomplishment has been long delayed. The old Ashtabula and New Lisbon railroad failed. Forty years passed before the project succeeded. Like the old prophet of Israel who led the people through the wilderness, these men have lived to see the undertaking a success. The new railroads which have been built in these last few years have caused them to realize the hope so long deferred.

A few years ago a visit to the Harbor would carry one back to the early times of steamboat navigation.

The surroundings were just what they had been in former days. One could almost hear the high-pressure cugines and see the well-known steamers, and almost expect to recognize the same old captains, who had sailed into every port along Lake Erie, St. Clair, and the distant Lake Michigan.

But the charm is gone. The dredging of the river, the long lines of docks, great piles of ore, the coal shutes, and the many vessels are tokens of another era which has dawned upon this place. Bygone scenes will soon be forgotten in the rush of commerce and in the increase of trade.

They call them improvements, and every one hopes for these changes, but every era in the history of a place has its own joys and sorrows, and the new scenes may prove no happier than the old.

This has always been a delightful place in summer, and doubtless with the growth of time it will prove not only a place of thriving business, but a delight- ful and perhaps fashionable resort.

The citizens are deserving of praise for maintaining the standards of society.

Though dependent upon the upper village for literary, educational, and relig- ious privileges, a few of the citizens have kept up meetings and the Sabbath- school for many years. The village was united with the borough last year, and it is now included in the corporation. The only public buildings are the Lake- view House, the little old school-house, and the light-house. The growth of the place. however, has been very marked for the last two years. Since the advent of the railroads there have been many rough scenes and deeds of violence ; but within a twelvemonth a temperance reformation has accomplished great results. The restraints of society, culture, and improvement are now prevalent, and a bright future is before the place.

THE HARBOR AND NAVIGATION.

The history of Ashtabula Harbor is an important one, as it brings up the history of the navigation of the lakes, and at the same time associates this place with many important parts in either direction.

It may be said that to Ashtabula belongs the honor of having had the first survey made for a harbor of any of the ports of the inland lakes. It has been maintained that at Painesville the first work was done, but before Fairport was touched a har- bor at this point had been projected and measurements were taken. It is a singu- lar fact, however, that this first harbor was designed to be as projecting out into the lake, and without regard to any stream or any natural channel at all. The projector of this scheme was not a citizen of Ashtabula, but was no less a person- age than the postmaster-general of the United States. Gideon Granger had be- come proprietor of about five thousand acres of land situated in the township of Jefferson, and also the owner of a fractional township, in the shape of a gore, on the shore of Lake Erie. This land he owned in Jefferson he laid ont as the site of the county-seat, and with " great expectations" made arrangements for a large city. In order to get a port for this inland city one was to be made at the lake- shore, and here another city was to be built, and a great thoroughfare was to con- nect the two. Such was the project which led to the survey. Mr. B. H. Latrobe, then superintendent of public works and engineer at Washington city, was employed to draw the plans, and Mr. T. R. Hawley actually made measurements and sound- ings. The notes of the survey are in existence, and can be found in the manu- scripts belonging to the historical society. The plan was, however, never carried out. The first actual improvement on record at the Harbor may be said to have been made by Rev. Joseph Badger. It appears that in the year 1801, and before that time, the harbor was a closed reservoir of water, where a great bar of sand would frequently gather, so that one could actually walk across the month of the river. These bars would form, and then again were washed ont by the stream in times of freshet. When Mr. Badger arrived with his boat-load of goods from Buffalo, in the spring of 1802, he found the harbor closed, and was obliged to get out and dig away the sand, and lift and shove the boat through to get into the harbor at all. Other boats had arrived before this : one carrying goods belonging to Judge Austin having entered it the year before, and probably those belonging to the surveying party as early as 1796. It was, however, a number of years be- fore any actual effort was made for improvement at this point, and it so proved

that many other ports, such as Erie. Fairport, Cleveland, and Sandusky, were vis- ited by vessels and steamers long before Ashtabula was. In looking over the files of Cleveland papers, we find that as late as 1820 the steamers were advertised to stop at these ports, but Ashtabula is not mentioned. There were indeed sail-vessels which visited the place, and several were built at this port. The first vessel ever launched in the Ashtabula river was a small sloop owned by B. A. Naper, and called the " Tempest," which was afterwards wrecked. There seems to have been a singular fatality about the building of vessels and their sailing from this port. The first vessel, the "Tempest," was wrecked ; the second, the " General Jack- son," was launched, but a little son of Manoah Hubbard, named Nelson, was drowned. The third, the " Superior," was launched, but in rocking her, accord- ing to the custom, seven young men were drowned. The fourth was attended with an accident,-Happy Jack's foot was cut off, by a coil of rope, at the launching. The "E. Whittlesey" was sunk, and two of her crew and six passengers were lost. The " Parrot" was chartered by Wm. Humphrey to transport his hogs to Detroit, but in a gale of wind she sank and all on board perished. The steamer " Wash- ington" was burned in her first trip east, and over sixty lives were lost. The " Peacock," also, which was owned in part at Ashtabula, exploded near Erie, kill- ing fifteen persons. Thus, out of eighteen vessels, seven were attended with some sad accident, and in twenty-five years eighty persons lost their lives with the ves- sels which were wrecked or destroyed. The loss of property was very consider- able, and, as it came at a time when there was but little and no insurance to be had, it served to keep back the prosperity of the place.

Few calamities have served to shock the community as did the capsizing of the little vessel called the "Superior." It was a gala-day for the whole region. Many had gathered to see the launch. Nearly all had gone on board,-young and old, men and women and little children. All were engaged in rocking the boat. Some young men had climbed into the rigging, and were enjoying the sport, when, in the midst of the glee, the vessel capsized and the whole company were precipitated into the water. A scene of confusion and wild excitement, as men, women, and little children, and even infants, were thrown struggling into the water. With great exertion, the most of the company were rescued except the young men who were in the rigging. These were thrown into the deep water, and were held by the shrouds of the rigging until they were drowned.

The wreck of the " Parrot" was also a sad calamity. No one escaped from the vessel to tell the tale, and the only thing that was known of the wreck was that the hogs came swimming ashore, though the bodies of the lost were afterwards found and buried. Mr. William Humphrey was a man much esteemed, and his loss was deeply mourned.

The destruction of the "Washington" occurred later, when the village was grown. Yet sixty persons taken from the world in the midst of flames and the wild waste of waters was indeed deplorable.

The following is the history of navigation up to the time that the Harbor began to be visited by vessels. In 1679 the "Griffin" was launched near Niagara Falls. In 1769 four vessels were built on Lake Erie by the British. In 1803 the first schooner-" General Tracy"-reached Chicago. In 1818 the first steamer-the " Walk in the Water"-was built in Sandusky. In 1836 the first square-rigged, full-masted ship-the " Julia Palmer"-was launched in Buffalo. In 1838 the first western transportation company was formed.

The following is a list of the vessels built in Ashtabula :

Schooner Tempest ..

1814

Schooner Pilot

1846

Elizabeth

1$15

Atlas (rebuilt)

1848

General Jackson ..

1816

Constellation

1848

Eagle ....

1×18

Oleander

1848

44 Superior.

1818

Joshna R. Giddings.

1849

Columbus

1826

Chief Justice Marshall ( rebuilt and enlarged)

1849

Telegraph

1828

Chicago ...

1850

Elisha Whittlesey

1829

Ashtabula

1850

N. Hubbard.

1831

Adriatic

1852

Warren

1833

Sioux ..

1852

Parrot.

1833

Gray.

1853

- (rebuilt and enlarged)

1835

B. F. Wade

1853

Atlas.

1834

New Lisbon

1855

Arctie.

1855

( wrecked and sunk

Oneida.

1857

Mary Collins

1857

Boston ..

1861

Steamer

Washington.

(burned on Lake

Jessie .

(enlarged )

1864

Schooner Adelaide.

1838

Snow-Drop (rebuilt).

1865

Sloop Geneva

1839

= Wind and Wave

1867

Schooner Atlas

1842

Edwin Harmon

1867

= Mosher

1867

Sloop Emma.

1844

Chisholm (rebuilt)

1867

Schooner Bennington.

1843

1845

York State (rebuilt).

1868

Porter.

1846

Steam-tug Mclellan ...

1868

Dahlia

1846

Schooner Lone Star (rebuilt)

1868

= Signal.

1846

Scow schooner Vampire.

Mermaid

1×67

built).

1846

Schooner Perry White .. 186S

1862

in Lake Erie-re- built and enlarged ) 1$36

1837

Plow-Boy

1863

Erie, off Dunkirk )

Windham.

1842

Oneida (rebuilt) ..

1867

Cadet ...

Elisha Whittlesey (rebuilt). 1839

Julia Willard

1866

= Traveler ..

1819

G. S. Willis.

1834

186;

16 Chief Justice Marshall (re-

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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.

HARBOR.

The following is the memorandum : The height of the bank from the water is 65 feet. The soundings are as follows : 5 feet of water at a distance of 505 feet ; 8 feet of water at a distance of 2355 feet. Sounding in rocks west of the centre of lot 1, T. B. R. 3, C. W. R., are as follows : 5 feet of water at a distance of 108 feet ; 8 feet of water at a distance of 1043 feet.

In 1824 an act was passed by the general assembly of Ohio to incorporate the Ashtabula Harbor company. In 1826 congress made an appropriation of $12,000 to remove obstructions. Colonel Matthew Hubbard was appointed superintend- ent. The dike was finished and the east pier was commenced. The pier was built of strong cribs of timber filled with stone. In 1827 two parallel piers were constructed, 214 feet long, extending to a depth of 10 feet. These were after- wards extended to the required length,-320 yards. In 1833 the piers had been carried 1284 fect, giving a channel 145 feet broad. The slate-rock which lay underneath the water was removed.

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History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, Part 54

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers Number of Pages: 458

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 458