History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Part 102

Author: Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Number of Pages: 716

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James Fish, above mentioned, had been a resident of Groton, Connecticut, and, having purchased a piece of land of Lord & Barber in the present township of Brooklyn, he set out from Groton in the summer of 1811 with an ox-team and a lumber wagon, in which rode himself, his three children, his wife and her mother. Hle journeyed west in company with a large party of pioneers, but the only ones besides himself destined for Brooklyn were his two cousins, Moses and Ebenezer Fish-the latter of whom made the en- tire trip on foot. Arriving at Cleveland early in the antumn, after forty-seven days on the road, James Fish decided to pass the winter in Newburg, while Ebenezer and Moses remained in Cleveland. Early in the spring of 1812 James went over from Newburg alone and put up a log-house that cost him just eighteen dollars, and in May of that year he took his family to their new home. Their log cabin was, of course, a rude structure, and its furniture was in keeping with the house. The bedstead-for there was only one at first-was manufactured by the head of the family, and was composed of roughly hewn pieces of wood, fastened with wooden pins, and having in lieu of a bed cord a net work made of strips of bark. This bedstead is still in the possession of Isaiah W., a son of James Fish, who resides in Brooklyn village upon the place originally occupied by his father. Isaiah W. Fish, just mentioned, was born in Brooklyn, May 9, 1814, and was the first white child born in the new settlement.

James Fish began at once to clear his land, but while waiting for a erop his family must needs have something to eat. Mr. Fish had no cash, and so he used to go over to Newburg two or three times a week. and work there at farming for tifty cents a day. Thus he managed to reach the harvest season, when from the first fruits of his land he secured a little money. It is, however, a question whether he could have carried his family through the winter, had it not been for the assistance of his wife, who to her other Anties added that of weaving coverlids, by which she earned a goodly sum, and in which she became so

Isaiah W'

The first known ancestor of Isaiah W. Fish was John Fish, who is supposed to have emigrated from England and settled at Mystic, in Groton, Conn. Ilis son was Capt. Samuel Fish, and his son was also Samuel Fish. The son of the lat- ter was Capt. John Fish, and his son was Joseph Fish, grandfather of Isaiah W.

The first person who settled in what is now the village of Brooklyn was James Fish, father of the subject of this sketch, who came from Connecticut in the year 1811, being forty-seven days on the road. He was a native of Connecticut, having been born in Groton, in June, 1783. In 1812 he built a log hut, on the site of which stands a handsome farm-house now occupied by his son, Isaiah W. At the time of his settle- ment, being in straightened circumstances, he was obliged to walk to Newburg, a distance of five miles, daily, where he worked days' work, receiving in payment for the same sundry provisions at the rate of fifty cents per day. Some time after- wards he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, but not being able to pay the taxes on the same, though small, lie sold all but fifty aeres to Aziah Brainard. Subsequently he took up eighty neres one mile north of his first purchase. It is re- lated that during the progress of the battle of Lake Erie he was at work cutting logs, and the distant roar of cannon could be dis- tinctly heard. Thinking of how they would lose their hard- earned homesteads should victory be on the side of the English, he became so nervous that he quit work and entered the cabin, where the "women folks" were assembled. They knew nothing of the desperate combat that was being carried on so close to them, and exclaimed : "How it do thunder!" " Yes," replied Mr. Fish, " but it is home-made thunder."

Mr. Fish lived to the extreme age of ninety-two years, his death occurring in September, 1875. Ile had shared all the privations and dangers of the first pioneers, and lived to witness the wonderful growth and development of the country which he had found an unbroken wilderness. As a citizen

he was quiet, sober, and industrious, working for the good of his family and the community in which he lived, but shrinking from public notice. He was an earnest Christian, and for thirty years a member of the Methodist Church. In 1805 he married Mary Wilcox, daughter of Elisha Wilcox, of Stonington, Conn. They had eight children, namely,- Mary, James, Elisha, Sally, Isaiah W., Lydia K., Joseph L., and John P. The first four were born in Connecticut ; the fifth, Isaiah W., was the first white person horn in Brooklyn, his birth occurring on the 9th of May, 1814. His early hfe was mostly spent in working on his father's farm. He re- ceived but a limited education.

February, 1837, he married Matilda Gates, daughter of Jeremiah Gates, of Brooklyn. He then engaged in farming in partnership with his father, with whom he resided until the death of the latter. Ile has been prominently connected with the religious, civil, and educational interests of the town. For fifty-two years he has been a member of the Methodist Church, and has labored actively in the cause of Christianity. For a period of twenty-three years he has been a regularly ordained minister, and has preached the gospel without receiving any pecuniary compensation, bis services being freely given. He has also been for many years a teacher in the Sunday-schools. Has been president of the school board for four years, and has always been active in the sup- port of schools and of charitable institutions.

In politics he is a Republican, and, although he has never sought political preferment, he has been elected to various local offices of trust, the duties of which he has discharged with uniform ability.

The result of his first marriage was three children,-Lucy A., Charles, and Buell B. Mrs. Fish died in February, 1850. He was again married, on the 5th of July, 1850, to Mary A. More, of East Cleveland, by whom he has two daughters, -- Mary M. and Louisa S. ; also one son, James, deceased.

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BROOKLYN.

celebrated that she found the demand far beyond her power to supply.

When Mr. Fish set out for Newburg on his peri- odical journeys, he left his family the sole ocenpants of a wilderness in which there were no residents nearer than Cleveland, and, knowing full well their fears and the good reasons for them. he returned to them faith- fully each night, albeit, his trips were always made on foot, and covered ten long miles. Such trips, too. he frequently made on subsequent occasions, when, needing flour or meal, he would shoulder a two bushel bag full of corn, trudge to the Newburg mill, and get back with his meal the same day.

Mr. Fish was a great hunter and slayer of rattle- snakes, which were found in immense numbers, and occasionally reared their ugly fronts through open- ings in the rude floors of the settlers' cabins. It is tokl of one of Mr. Fish's farm bands in the early days, that on narrowly escaping the attack of a rattlesnake he joyously and thankfully exclaimed: " What a smart idea it was in God Almighty to put bells on them things" Mr. Fish lived a useful and honored life in Brooklyn, saw cities and villages rise where once he trode the pathless forest, and at the age of ninety-three passed away from earth, on the old homestead, in September, 18;5, his wife having pro- ceeded him twenty-one years.

Ebenezer and Moses Fish, who have already been mentioned as spending the winter of 1811-12 in Cleveland, followed James Fish to Brooklyn in the spring of 1812, and settled upon eighty acres lying just south of James Fish's place-Ebenezer locating on the north side of what is known as Newburg street, and Moses on the south side. Neither was then married, but, as both expected to be, they worked with a will to prepare their land for cultiva- tion, both living in a log shanty on Ebenezer's land. Ebenezer was one of the militiamen who guarded Onic, the Indian murderer who was hung in Cleve- land in June, 1812, as related in the general history. Both also served a few months in the forces called ont to guard the frontier during the first year of the war of 1812. Returning to their clearings, they vig- orously renewed their pioneer life. Moses was drafted into the military service, but he was far from being strong, and therefore Ebenezer went in his stead, serv- ing six months and taking part in an engagement at Mackinaw Island.

After the war closed Ebenezer returned to Connecti- out, where he was married and where he remained six years before resuming his residence in Brooklyn. There Mr. Fish has ever since lived, and in his ninety- third year is still a dweller upon his old homestead: the only one now living of the little band of pioneers who began the settlement of Brooklyn.

Of the children of Moses Fish, Ozias and Lorenzo reside in Brooklyn, while others are in the far West.

Following the Fish families in 1813 came Ozias Brainard, of Connecticut, with four grown daughters and four sons, Ozias, JJ., Timothy, Ira and Bethuel,

of whom Ozias, Jr .. and Ira had families. They set- tled on the Newburg road, near where Brooklyn vil- lage now is, on adjoining places, and all resided in Brooklyn during the remainder of their lives, David S. Brainard, a son of Ozias, Jr., now resides in Cleve- land near the county infirmary. At this time, as will have been observed, Brooklyn township was peopled exclusively by Fishes and Brainards, and it used to be a common story in Cleveland that "the visitor to Brooklyn might be certain that the first man he'd meet would be a Fish or a Brainard."

Ozias Brainard, Jr., put up the first framed dwell- ing in Brooklyn, on the place now occupied by his son David, and Asa Brainard raised the first framed barn, which is still in use on the farm of Carlos Jones, the erection of which, in 1818 or before, was the occasion of a hilarious celebration. Asa Brainard also built the first brick house in the old township of Brooklyn at what is now the junction of Columbus and Seranton avenues, where he opened the first public tavern in that township, abont 1825.

The autumn of 1814 witnessed a large and import- ant accession to the little settlement when six families. comprising forty persons, came thither from Connee- tient within a week: thirty-one of them landing within the same hour. These were the families of Isaac Hinckley, Asa Brainard, Elijah Young, Stephen Brainard, Enos Brainard and Warren Brainard, all of whom had been residents of Chatham, Middlesex county, Connecticut. All exchanged their farms there with Lord & Barber for land in " New Connec- ticut," and all set out for that unknown land on the same day. The train consisted of six wagons, drawn by ten horses and six oxen, and all journeyed together until Euclid was reached (forty days after leaving Chatham), where Isaac Hinckley and his family rested, leaving the others to push on to Brook- lyn, whither he followed them within a week.

It appears that the trustees of the township of Cleveland-to which the territory of Brooklyn then belonged-became alarmed at the avalanche of emi- grants just described, and concluding that they were a band of paupers, for whose support the township would be taxed, started a constable across the river to warn the invaders out of town. Alonzo Carter. a resident of Cleveland. heard of the move, and stop- pod it by endorsing the good standing of the new- comers-adding that the alleged paupers were worth more money than all the trustees of Cleveland com- bined.

Isaac Hinckley settled in the southeast on lot seventy-nine, near where the line between Parma and Independence intersects the south line of Brooklyn, in the heart of a thick forest. " a mile from anybody " as his son, Abel, now says. The first table the family used there was made by Mr. Hinckley out of an ash tree. Moreover, although he owned three hundred and sixty acres of land, he had no money to buy flour, and, being in great need of breadstuffs, he offered to mortgage a hundred aeres of land as security for a

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THE TOWNSHIPS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

barrel of Msn. The Newburg miller, however, pre- ferred the flour to the chance of getting the land, for the former would bring money more readily than the latter. Nevertheless something to eat was procured in some way, for Mr. Hinckley lived on the old place until 1851, when he died at the age of seventy- eight.

Asa Brainard located near the site of the infirmary, Stephen Brainard on a place adjoining Mr. Abel Ilinekley's present residence in Brooklyn village, and Enos and Warren Brainard near where the Wade House (on Columbus street) now stands.

The first settlers upon what is now known as the Brighton side of the creek were also Brainards. Two brothers, Amos and Jedediah, with a cousin named Jabin, started with their families from Connecticut and traveled westward together as far as Ashtabula, where Jedediah, an old man of seventy, fell ill (in consequence, doubtless, of having walked all the way from Connecticut) and died. Sylvanus, his eldest son, who had a family of his own, took charge of his mother and her children, and, with Amos and Jede- diah, continued the trip to Brooklyn, where they arrived in the summer of 1814. Amos located about a mile south of what is now Brighton village, where he owned three hundred acres of land. Sylvanus and Jabin settled near by.

Amos had three sons and one daughter, Amos B., William, Demas and Philena-all of whom save Demas died in the township. Demas is now a hale old man of eighty-eight, and resides on a farm a mile south- east of Brighton-the place which he made his home in 1818.

George and Thomas Aikens, brothers of Mrs. Amos Brainard, had preceded that gentleman by a year or more, and had taken up land on the Brighton side, but the Aikens family did not occupy it until some time afterward. This land Amos Brainard culti- vated for the Aikens, and on that farm, by Demas Brainard, the first ground was broken on the south side of the creek. Cyril and Irad, sons of George Aikens, lived on the place after a time. Cyril died there and Irad in Black River, whither he moved at an early day. George and Thomas Aikens resided on the Brooklyn side, near the site of the intirmary, where George Aikens, the grandson of the former George, now resides.

One of the stirring citizens of early Brooklyn was Diodate Clark, of Connecticut, who settled in the township in 1815, and was afterward a man of some prominence in its history. He was the first male school teacher in Brooklyn, and was a wide-awake business man. Ile eventually became concerned in large enterprises in Cleveland, where it is said he was the first to engage in the lime trade. He died on his old homestead in 1812.

James Sears, of Connecticut, settled in Brooklyn in 1817, and still lives-now aged eighty-upon a farm two miles west of Brooklyn village. He worked at first in Cleveland, and boarded with Asa Brainard.

After a time he took up a farm and has lived upon it ever since.

Jeremiah Gates, originally from Connectient, made his home in Delhi, New York, in 1815, and in 1816 walked from that place to Brooklyn for the purpose of examining the country. Satisfied with its appear- anee he walked back to Delhi (having occupied six weeks in the entire journey), married there, and in company with his wife, his brother Nathaniel, and another man (who soon returned cast) set out for Brooklyn. A horse and wagon conveyed them to Buffalo, where they took a vessel and thus made their way to Cleveland. Jeremiah was too poor to buy land, and for the first two years after his arrival in Brooklyn worked in Philo Scovill's sawmill. In 1819 he assisted his brother Nathaniel in the erection of a sawmill at what is known as five-mile lock. In 1820 he bought a farm in Brooklyn and there continued to reside until his death, in 1870. His widow survives him, and lives on the old place, in Brighton village, aged eighty-tive.

Richard and Samuel Lord and Josiah Barber, of the firm of Lord and Barber before mentioned, removed to that part of Brooklyn which is now the west side of Cleveland as early as 1818, and resided there until they died. Edwin Foote was among the early resi- dents of Brooklyn, as was his brother Wilham, who remained Unt a short time, however, before removing to Cleveland. Edwin settled on lot ninety, in the southeast corner of the township, and devoted himself to farming and gardening. in which latter occupation he was especially successful.

Ansel P. Smith, who set up the first wagon shop in Brooklyn, came out from Connecticut, in 1830, with his brother-in-law, Timothy Standard. an old sea cap- tain, and together they opened a store in Brooklyn village, the first one in that locality. After an expe- rience of five years they gave up the venture-Smith going west and Standard back to Connecticut. After that, there was not much done in the mercantile line in Brooklyn village until 1843, when A. W. Poe opened a store and conducted it successfully for thirty years. A Mr. Huntington, from Connecticut, opened a store in Brighton in 1840, where John Thorne, a Frenchman, had previously started a blacksmith shop. Epaphroditus Ackley, a miller, settled on Walworth run in 1814, worked a while in Barber's mill, and moved away after a residence of some years. Asa Ackley, of New York, located at a later period near where the infirmary now stands, and opened the first blacksmith shop on the Brooklyn side.

In the foregoing sketch of Brooklyn's early settle- ment it has been the aim of the chronicler to treat principally of such incidents and persons as were iden- tified with the first decade of the township's history. After that, settlers multiplied so rapidly that the newcomers obtained no distinctive place in the records of the time. Those who lead the van in the settle- ment of a new country usually form but a handful, whose unmbers may be easily counted, and whose

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BROOKLYN.

progress may be easily traced; and they, too, are the ones around whom settles the peculiar interest which always attaches to the " pioneers " of a loeality.

Brooklyn, being adjacent to Cleveland, shared to some extent the prosperity of that city, and its pro- gress, after about 1825, was quite rapid. Although shorn of a large part of its original territory, by the annexation of Ohio City to Cleveland in 1854, and by subsequent minor encroachments, it is still numerously populated, and is not only a prosperous but a quite wealthy township.

EARLY MILLS.

The first sawmill put up in Brooklyn township was erected by Philo Scovill, of Cleveland, in ISI2. on Mill creek, abont two miles west of where Brooklyn village now is. Mr. Scovill not only furnished Inmber to the carly settlers, but also made window sashes and doors. Lord & Barber (the great land proprietors.) put up a similar mill there not long afterward, and about the same time a third sawmill was built on the same creek by Warren and Gershom Young. In 1819 Nathaniel Gates built a sawmill on the ereck, at what is known as tive-mile lock.

The first gristmill in the old township is supposed to have been built by one of the Kelleys, of Cleveland. on Walworth run, near where the Atlantic and Great Western railroad now crosses that stream. The next one, known as Barber's mill, built in 1816, was run by Elijah Young for a while, and stood about a half a mile above Kelley's. There were some other estah- lishments on Walworth run, but they do not concert the history of the present township of Brooklyn.

ORGANIZATION.

Brooklyn township was organized June 1, 1818. and embraced originally " all that part of Cleveland situated on the west side of the Cuyahoga river, ex- cepting a farm owned by Alfred Kelley." Since then a large portion of its territory has been restored to Cleveland.

It is said that when the township was about to he organized Captain Ozias Brainard was anxious to call it Egypt " becanse so much corn was raised there." but the idea met with no favor, and the name of Brooklyn was adopted because it sounded well, and not from any desire to honor the place of that nante in New York, since nearly all of the early settlers came from Connecticut. The first book of township records was destroyed by fire, and the list of town- ship officers here given dates necessarily from 1831. Since that fime those officers, with the years of their election, have been as follows:

TRUSTEES.

1837, Samuel II. Barstow, Diodate Clark, William Allen: 1-38, S. II. Barstow, William Allen, Samnel Tyler: 1839, William Burton, Martin Kellogg. Russell Pelton: 1-40, Martin Kellogg, Russell Pelton, William Burton; 1811, Jonathan Fish, Russell Pelton, Martin Kellogg; 1843, Mar- tin Kellogg, Jonathan Fish, Benjamin Sawtell; 1843, Ezra Honeywell, William Hartness, Philo Rowley; 1811. Morris Jackson, Ezra Honey- well, Philo Rowley : 1845, Samuel Tyler, Samuel Storer, Levi Lock wood: 1816, Samuel Storer. R. C. Selden, Levi Lockwood; 1817. R. C. Selden, Samuel Storer, Philo Rowley ; 1848, Martin Kellogg, Benjamin Sawtell, Seth Brainard; 1849, James Sears, Benjamin Sawtell, Ambrose Anthony : 1850, James Sears, Francis Branch, Ambrose Anthony.

1831, Ambtose Anthony, dames Sos. Francis Branch. 1652, Francis Branch, Ambrose Anthony Janis Sears: 153, Ambrose Anthony, James Sears, Francis Branch, 15. John Morrill, James Sears, Homer Strong: 1855, Clark S Gate. John Goes, Jamie's Sears; 1856, David S. Brainard, Martin Kellogg, John L. Johnson: 1857, D. S. Brainard, Alfred Kellogg. I L Johnson; INA, 0 L. Gates, Alfred Kellogg. James Sears: 1859, Alfred Kellogg. James Sears, John Reeve: 1-60, James Sears, John Reeve, Alfred Kellogg.

1561, Francis S. Pelton, John Reeve, Martin K. Rowley; 1863, Thomas James. James W. Day. M. K Rowley: 1553, Joseph Marmann, Alfred Kellogg, Levt Fish: 1-64, Alfred Kellogg. Levi Fish, William Lehr (re- signed in Novender, and James Sears appointed. The latter resigned in December, and Francis S Pelton was appointed. 1865, Jacob Siringer, F. S. Pelton, John Ross; 1866, Jacob Siringer, John Ross, Jacob Hum: ING. Jacob Siringer, John Ross, Marens Dennerlie ; 1868, Jefferson Fish, Samuel Sears, Bethuel Fish : 1-69. Jefferson Fish. Samuel Sears, David S Brainard: 1570, Jefferson Fish, John Myers, Samuel Sears.

1571, Robert Curtiss, John Meyer, Daniel W. Hoyt; 1822, John Meyer, Erhart Wooster, Robert Curtiss: 1873, Erhart Wooster, J. C. Wait, Car- tor Stickney: 1574. Robert Curtiss, D W Hoyt, J. C. Wait; 1875, John Williams, John Schmeldl, William S. Curtiss: 1876, John Williams, Charles E Terrell. Seymour Trow bridge: 1ST, CE. Terrell, Seymour Trow bridge, Charles Miller; INGS, Sanford R. Brainard, William Thomas, Francis H. Chester; 179. William Thomas, S. R. Brainard, Charles Miller.

CLERKS.

1×31. 0 L. Russell; 1 3> and 1839, Samuel II Fox: 1840 '41 and '42, Francis Fuller: 1-13 and 1841, John H. Sargeant: (In September, 1814. Sargeant removed, and George I Chapman was appointed ) 1845, Charles Winslow: 1846 to 1554, inclusive. ( E. Hill; 1855, F. W. Pelton: (Resigned in July, and ( E Hill appointed.) 1556, Bolles M Brainard; (Died in August, and Charles H Babcock appointed. 1857, C. II. Bab cock: 1-55, Frederick Dalton: P58, Joseph B. Shuil: 1860 and 1861, Charles 11. Babcock : 1802 and 1sb3, Henry Fish: 1964, F HI Chester: 1865 and 1-66, Frederick W Wirth; 1867, F 11. Chester: 156s and 1869, Edwin Chester: 1-74, Edward F. Fuller: IST1, B. J. Ross: 1872 to 1877, inInsive, William Treat, PGS and 1529, Charles N Collins

TREASURERS

13%. Onias Brainard, 198. C. E. Hill: 1939, Ozias Brainard; 1840 James Ry ( Resizued in November, and ( E Hill appointed. ) 1541 and 1×12 V F. Hill 1813 and 1544, David S Brainard: 1815, Bethuel Fish: 1516 and IS17, D S. Bramard: 1818 and 1849. Beilmel Fish: 1850, Francis Fuller. (Died in August, and Bethnel Fish appointed.) 1551, Elihu Cor, bin. 12 to PSI, inclusive, S . Lewis; 185% to 1557, inclusive, William Wilson, Isto 1-61 melusive, Carlos Jones: 1861. Benj R. Beavis: 1862, 1) S. Brainard IM and Isol, Dans Fish, 1965 and 1866, F H. Chester; 145 to 1809, melnsive. Jacob Schineuter. 1870 and 1871 Carver Stickney ; 1-72, John Duncan. . Died in April, and George . Duncan appointed.) 153 to 195, inclusive. G J Pnuran: Removed in November, and F. II. Chester appointed ) 150i and 152, F IL Chester; Is and isi, Russell A Brown

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

1-36, George W Marsh, P87, C. L. Russell, William Burton; 1838, Ben- jatuin Paul, Heman A. Hurlbut: 1800. (' L. Russell: 1811, Benj Dond, Samuel Tyler: 1842, Seott W. Sayles: 1843, J. H Sargent; 1544, Benjamin Sawtell, 1815, Andrew White, Ezra R. Benton, Henry L Whitman: 1847 Homer Strong, Samuel Storer: 1548, II L. Whitman: 1550, Homer Strong, J. A Redington, Samuel Storer: 1852. Ezra Honeywell, Wells Porter; 1853. Charles II. Babeuck; 1-55, Austin M. Case, Daniel Stephan ; 1856, Chas. 11 Babcock: INN, Felix Nicola: 1959, Chas. HI Babeock: 1960, Felix Nicola: 1862. Chas H. Babrock : 1863, Felix Nicola (resigned in De cember. 1961 : 1565, Benjamin R. Beavis, John Reeve; 1868, Chas, Il. Babcock, John S. Fish: 1871. Joseph M Poe, Chas H. Babcock ; 1872, Ambrose Anthony: 1874, Chas HI Babenek, (resigned in October, 1871,) William Treat : 1525, Ambrose Anthony ; 1877, William Treat, Charles N. Collins, 1578, Ambrose Anthony: 1579, C. N. Collins and W Treat

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History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Part 102

Author: Johnson, Crisfield Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Number of Pages: 716