USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 52
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Samuel Bemiss came from Buffalo, by water, on the steamer Superior, the only vessel on the lake, she having taken the place of Walk-on-the- Water. which had foundered a short time before. The interest in this ancient craft has just been revived by a picture of the steamboat just as she looked in those early days.
A post-office was not established until 1854, previous to which time the inhabitants of Groton received their mail at Bloomingville. The postmaster was at that time a Methodist Episcopal minister, named Rev. Zar Patch. The office is now in the center of the township.
Religious meetings were held in the dwellings of the settlers by Rev. Mr. Gurley and others. The pioneer church was Methodist and met in the north- east corner of the township, where they now have a church edifice. Another church is located on lot number thirty-five in section third.
A grist mill was built by Eli and Edward Ford on Pipe Creek, and a dis- tillery just above it on the same stream. There was also, at one time, a cabi- net-shop of large capacity that carried on a good business.
Charles Rash found his way to the fire-lands even earlier than the preced- ing, having arrived in 1815 from Ontario county, N. Y. He made the jour- ney on horseback, and was followed by his brother in the same way in 1819. The journey occupied nine days, and the brothers settled on the farm since owned by the brother, Libey Rash. Charles afterward became justice of the peace in 1820, and served in that capacity for eighteen years consecutively. He died in 1853 aged sixty-one. The homestead has under good cultivation one hundred and seventy acres of land.
Worthington Nims came from Massachusetts in 1826, and selected his home, then went back to marry his wife, and come to reside here. He built a cosy frame house which has since become his carriage house, while a more pretentious building takes its place.
There is no village in this township. The Seven-mile House is the only center. Sand Hill Church is union of all denominations.
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HURON TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XXIV.
HISTORY OF HURON TOWNSHIP.
T HE township of Huron is irregular in form on account of its bordering on Lake Erie. The greatest length is from east to west, and the greatest width is at the western side where it extends from Milan township on the south across part of Sandusky Bay and the base of Cedar Point to Lake Erie, whose turbulent and shallow waters wash its whole northern side, and at various points on the shores have dug away many acres of once valuable farming land. The Huron River, which enters the township from Milan and flows diagonally across the eastern portion emptying into the lake at the eastern side of Huron village, is a deep stream, with rather abrupt, though not high banks.
The bed of the river is of solid clay, and an old reliable resident tells that he has frequently seen steamers in turning around, purposely run their bows against the side of the river bed in hopes of getting aground sufficiently to turn the boat by reversing the paddle wheels, but the abruptness and slippery nature of the river bed would invariably slide the boat back into the channel.
This river is navigable for the largest class of lake vessels for a distance of about four miles. This fact, in connection with its having accommodated small boats for a much greater distance up from the mouth, is probably the reason that Huron was the site of one of the first, if not the first, town on the Western Reserve. Early travelers, coming up the lake in small boats, found this an easy means of penetrating the back country, and no doubt, in an early day, men crossed to the tributaries of the Ohio River and down to the father of waters, of course making the necessary portages on the journey.
Huron township is not favored with the rich river bottom lands to as great an extent as Milan, although in some places there are considerable areas of these lands. A great portion of the valley near the village is occupied by low marshes, into which the water is blown daily with the regularity almost of tides, by the lake breeze.
Parties, who are perhaps in a better position to judge than the author of this, have estimated the marsh lands in the river valley and on the Sandusky Bay at about fifteen hundred acres, an estimate that is certainly not too high, and possibly not too low.
The western part of this township is prairie land, a portion of the same strip mentioned in the description of Milan, and with a small exception equally fertile. The eastern part is rolling and was quite generally covered with heavy timber, much of which, being oak, has been used in the ship yards at Huron and further up the river.
Among the traces of the mound builders in this vicinity the old mound
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
west of the river on the W. H. Wright farm, some three miles above Huron though reduced by plowing and the explorer's shovel, is probably most easily seen, and has the most definite outline. The whole base occupies nearly an acre, and the top has an area of several square rods. The highest point of this mound is not now over twenty feet above the surrounding field, though it was doubtless much higher at one time. There is also an old earthwork at the mouth of Saw-mill creek, two and one-half miles west of Huron, on land formerly owned by Dr. Haskins. This prehistoric relic is in the form of a fort, and encloses about half an acre. Many stone implements of greater or less value have been unearthed in this vicinity from time to time, but there are no considerable collections among the citizens of the town or township so far as we know.
The original grantees of Huron township lands, like those of Milan, re- ceived allotments in proportion to their losses by fire. The valuation of the lands, like those of Milan, was fixed at £5,377, 8s. Section one amounting to £1,344, 7s, was assigned to the heirs of William Stewart by Peter Lattimer, John Lester, John Welch, Joseph Hurlburt, Samuel Brown and Samuel Latti- mer, whose original losses aggregated £2,769, 6s. 5d.
The second section was located by William Winthrop, of New York, and the heirs of William Gale, of New London, Conn .; Jeremiah Miller, John Ewing, John Barr and Eben Goddard being the original grantees, and their losses amounting to £3,408, 10s. 2d.
Section three was granted to Joseph Packwood, Bathsheba Smith and Richard Potter, whose combined losses amounted to £1,665, 2s. Id. The heirs of William Parkins, New London, Conn., received the lands of this section.
Section four was taken by the heirs of Stewart, Parkins and Winthrop, and the original grantees were : Samuel Lattimer, Richard Potter, Thomas Boyd, Ann Hancock, Richard Stroud, Eben May, widow Austus Piner, Bathsheba Skinner, Jabob Fenk, Ichabod Powers and Jeremiah Miller, whose losses ag- gregated £3,744, 7s. 4d.
The township was divided for purposes of allotment into four sections, each valued the same ; but as will be seen by a reference to the figures given above, the assignment of each section was an independent transaction, the re- lations of losses and relief being proportionate in each section, while the amounts lost were greater or less in each case. The valuation of the lands was very low, but no lower than that of Milan, a fact that seems a little strange when the amount of swamp lands is taken into consideration.
The first settlements within the present limits of this township are not very definitely chronicled in history, but it is quite generally believed that a Frenc !! trading post established at the mouth of the river about 1749 was the fir .: white settlement in this part of the State. This settlement was abandoned previous to the Revolutionary War.
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HURON TOWNSHIP.
The early settlement of Huron township was quite intimately connected with that already mentioned in the northeastern part of Milan, and the Mora- vian mission there described might perhaps as justly have been credited to Huron since both townships were organized under one local government con- tinuing till 1820. B. F. Flemond is said to have visited the country along the lower Huron as early as 1790; but, however this may be, he settled here in 1805 on land known as lot fifteen, and lying on the east bank of the river just above the present Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad bridge.
Mr. Flemond was a very remarkable man for his time. He was not highly educated, at least in the arts and sciences, but had considerable knowledge of the French and English languages, and spoke several Indian dialects quite fluently. Endowed with an excellent memory, a genial disposition, and in- domitable courage, he was of great service to General Harrison in the war of 1812 as a guide and scout.
He was also interpreter and assistant executioner in the case of the two Indians hung at Norwalk for the murder of Jno. Woods and George Bishop.
Mr. Flemond was married in 1811 to a daughter of W. Pollock, who re- sided near the south line of the township. This was no doubt the first Chris- tian marriage solemnized in this vicinity. His first enterprise in this section was the establishment of a trading post or store for the purpose of bartering eastern goods with the Indians for furs and other articles of value. Mr. Fle- mond probably died about the year 1827, and his wife survived him for about twelve years. He also left three daughters, one of whom married John Mc- Carty, and after his death became the wife of John Miller. She lived on the old farm until 1850 or thereabout, when she moved west, settling in Wood county, I believe.
Almon Ruggles came to Huron in 1808, and Jabez Wright, for many years agent of William Winthrop, who owned at one time nearly the whole township, came here in the same year. Winthrop H. Wright, at present a very large land owner in this section, is the son of Jabez Wright, whose wife, Tamar, was a daughter of Almon Ruggles. W. H. Wright was born on the farm which he now owns, in 1813, and has resided here since.
Jabez Wright and Almon Ruggles conducted the original survey of the township, completing it in 1810, the work occupying nearly two years, and being quite complete in its details.
Mr. Wright was at one time a judge of common pleas, and his accidental death by falling down the lake bank in 1840 was sadly felt by a host of warm friends.
Cyrus Downing came to Huron in 1809, settling on land west of the pres- ent village, near Saw-mill creek, where he resided about three years, removing to Cleveland, and dying there about the beginning of the war of 1812.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
Mr. Jeremiah Daniels came here in 1809 also, and married a daughter of Mr. Downing in 1813, settling on a farm near the old Downing home, after- ward owned by W. J. Hinde.
Mr. Daniels carried the United States mail between Huron and Cleveland for several years. The round trip was made in a week (no accidents prevent- ing), and was without doubt considerable of a journey, when the condition of the roads and the dangers of the forest are considered.
Savages at that time were marauding occasionally on the Reserve, and though Mr. Daniels never met with any serious injury, it is said that he passed through several exciting experiences.
Major H. Russell came to Huron in 1809, and in 1810 built a log-house on the Jeremiah Benschoter farm, afterward owned by Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Joseph Paxton. This building used as a hotel and store was probably the first public house in Huron county, it was opened for the reception of travelers in 1810; in the same year Mr. Russell, with J. S. Sprague as iron worker, be- gan the construction of a forty-ton sailing vessel, which he finished in 1811. This boat was fastened mostly with wooden pins instead of bolts. Two years later a second and larger vessel was completed and named The Fair America. British agents soon after purchased her, and she is said to have been delivered at Buffalo to them.
Mr. Russell cleared a field on the W. G. Sage farm about this time, but it was afterward allowed to grow up to small timber, obliterating all traces of its first subjugation.
Asa Smith visited this section in 1806, but did not locate permanently until. 1810. He was elected justice of the peace in 1811, and was quite an active citizen until his death in 1815. His wife survived him for a number of years, dying in Sandusky in 1832.
J. S. Sprague settled on the east side of the river at first, but afterward moved onto land west of town, which is still known to old settlers as the Sprague place. He was a man of great natural ability and very highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was a justice of the peace for eighteen successive years, when he declined re-election on account of business relations, and from a feeling that he had done his fu !! share of public service.
He died in January, 1861, at the old homestead, and his honored and beloved wife followed him a number of years later, dying at the residence of her son-in-law, J. Durham, in April, 1872.
In 1811-12 William B Smith and mother started a hotel at the mouth of Huron River, on the east side, and they continued it through the war. Mr. Smith frequently told of hearing the guns of Commodore Perry when the memorable naval battle of Lake Erie occurred in September, 1813. He Was married in 1819, moved to Sandusky in 1820, and was elected county treas-
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HURON TOWNSHIP.
urer in 1840. He was highly respected and a very useful citizen both in pub- lic and private life.
In 1816 Reed Sanford opened a trading post at the mouth of Huron River, on the east side near the old Smith's hotel. J. B. Flemond and F. Graham had direct charge of the business, and were eminently successful in their man- agement of it. Mr. Flemond's command of the Indian dialects, and his genial disposition and knowledge of the tastes and habits of the Indian made him very valuable in such a position.
William Winthrop was an early settler, and an active business man, as well as a very large land holder. He built the first saw- mill in this vicinity at the mouth of Saw-mill creek, which drains the prairie section and empties into Lake Erie about two and a half miles west of Huron village. Of late years this has been little more than a dry run, from the fact that the prairie lands are so thoroughly drained as to precipitate the water into the main outlet very soon after it falls in the form of rain. In an early day, however, when the wild grass, the sink holes and bogs prevented rapid evaporation and drainage, this stream furnished a very uniform supply of water for milling purposes.
Messrs. N. M. Standart and C. Butler opened a general store at the mouth of the Huron River, but dissolved partnership a year later, and Mr. Standart soon became deeply interested in the development of Milan.
In 1824 Daniel Hamilton, in connection with N. M. Standart, opened a general supply store and commission business at Huron, and were assisted by Charles Standart and P. Adams as salesmen. . Mr. Adams boarded men work- ing on the harbor improvement about this time, and later, probably in 1825, removed to the old Adams homestead (now owned by Chris. Drumm), on the Sand road, running from Spear's Corners to Huron, where he resided until his death. When Mr. Adams left the store the stock was purchased by Charles Standart and G. H. Gibbs, who conducted the business till the winter of 1826-7. Mr. Standart then took the business alone and conducted it a year or so, when he built a warehouse and dock, and embarked in the general storage and com- mission business.
Tower Jackson, probably the oldest remaining settler on the fire-lands at this writing, came to Huron in 1819 from Milan. He was married at Mon- roeville in 1822 to Sarah Clock, a lady widely known and highly respected, and an aunt of D. H. Clock, editor and proprietor of the Erie County Reporter, now published at Huron.
Mr. Jackson engaged with H. W. Jenkins in the dry goods and grocery trade on his settlement at Huron, remaining with him for several years In 1830 he went into partnership with R. E. Cole in the general merchandise and vessel building business. They built the steamer Delaware in 1832. Mr. Jackson removed to Racine, Wis., in 1846, and in 1848 to Cleveland, O., where Mrs.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
Jackson died in 1854. He returned to Huron a year or two later, and wa, married to Miss Button, with whom he is still enjoying domestic felicity at the advanced age of ninety years.
Mr. Jackson is a very vigorous and hospitable gentleman, and though not blessed with a college education, he takes a deep interest in all educational matters of a local nature. He built the Huron House in 1832 and the Amer- ican House in 1840, and has taken a lively interest in all matters pertaining to Huron's welfare for a great number of years.
H. W. Jenkins built the Ohio Hotel in 1832 or thereabouts, and after con- ducting it very successfully for a number of years, went to Cincinnati in 1840, and afterward removed to the Isthmus of Panama, where he died in 1850.
When, in 1827, 'Squire Merry, of Milan, as agent of the United States government, took charge of the harbor improvements at the mouth of the river, he was assisted by a number of efficient mechanics, and among them T. Clark was regarded as best able to manage the carpenter work, necessarily quite extensive and very important, from the fact that the lake is quite open here so that at times a very heavy sea comes thundering in upon the quays at either side of the river mouth.
The reader will remember that Milan had not then secured the canal, and Huron was much more prominent as a town than Milan-indeed the latter, with all her advantages of active business men and water-power, was quite an unimportant town at that time.
At once the active attention of moneyed men at Buffalo, Detroit, and other lake cities, was turned to Huron by the government aid which had been granted for harbor improvement, and vessel building was begun in a spirit that argued well for the future development of the place.
In 1828 the steamer Sheldon Thompson, of 242 tons burden, was built here by Captain F. Church. In 1832, the United States, of 336 tons, and the Del- aware, of 170 tons. The Columbus, of 391 tons, was completed in 1835. The energetic Captain Walker, in 1836 built the De Witt Clinton, of 493 tons, and the Little Erie, 149 tons. In 1837 the Cleveland, and in 1838 the Great West- ern, of 780 tons, (the first upper cabin steamer on the lakes in all probability,) and the General Scott, of 240 tons were finished. There were numerous other vessels built at the port in an early day, and in fact much vessel building has been done here from time to time in more recent years, but data are not ac- cessible if indeed it were unquestionably desirable to devote a greater space than has already been given to this industry in a volume that aims to be a history of the development of this section rather than an encyclopedia of chronological events.
Among early vessel men of particular prominence were Capain Reed, Cap- tain F. Church, Captain Pangburn, Captain B. Parsons, Captain F. D. Ketchum, Captain W. Cherry, Captain Asa Keating, Captain Joseph Keating, Captain S. Wilson, and Captain S. F. Squires.
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HURON TOWNSHIP.
Lying as it does, Huron was a general stopping place for boats passing up and down the lakes and carrying all the passengers and freight that was moved from east to west for a great many years; in fact, up to the date of the com- pletion of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. J. B. Wilbor, who came here on the steamer Walk-in-the- Water, in 1820, from Tonawanda, N. Y., used to tell how some eight yoke of cattle were hitched to the old steamer to assist in bringing her up the current of the Niagara River from that port, her engines, like those of other steamers of an early day, being too weak to propel her against any considerable resistance.
In 1832 Mr. Wilbor, with N. M. and Charles Standart, engaged in commis- sion business and general mercantile operations under the firmn name of Wil- bor & Co., continuing until 1837, when the firm dissolved, and Mr. Wilbor went into trade with J. Fleeharty. The latter firm continuing until 1844, when Mr. Wilbor moved to Milan where he remained a few years, but returned to Huron, from whence he was elected county treasurer in 1850, and removed his family to Sandusky in 1854. Returning to Huron in 1857, he went into partnership with J. W. Sprague, building several large vessels here, and doing a general commission mercantile and forwarding business until 1861.
A. Shirley came to Marble Head Peninsula in 1810, with his wife's fam- ily, the Ramsdells. He resided on the peninsula when the Indians killed the three pioneers whose death is commemorated by a little granite slab near the farm of Robert Killey. Indeed it is said that he took an active part in driv- ing the red-skins away. Removing to Huron in 1828 he kept the old red tavern for several years, when he purchased the land known as South Huron and laid it out in town lots. Messrs. S. Van Rensselaer and B. Carman were the surveyors who helped Mr. Shirley very materially in this undertaking, and the work was very creditable to all concerned in it.
Mr. Shirley was an active and respected citizen, taking an important part in all matters of general interest. He built the " Shirley House " at the corner of Main and Berlin streets in 1833, but received little material benefit from it as he died a year or so later of asiatic cholera. His descendants still reside in this vicinity. His wife, a relative of the Ramsdells, now living in the western part of Erie county, was a lady noted for her benevolence, intelligence and Christian spirit. W. B. Shirley, of Huron, recently deceased, was a son of this pioneer couple.
D. Curtis settled on the lake shore very soon after Flemond came here ; his son, Harvey Curtis, who was born on the old homestead in 1807, was probably the first white child born in this township, if not in Erie county. Efforts have been made to contradict Mr. Curtis's claim to this distinction, but none seem to know really any more of the event than Mr. Curtis himself, and his claim is substantiated by recorded evidence, so as before stated, he was probably
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
the first white child born in this vicinity. Mr. Curtis remembers hearin . Perry's battle on Lake Erie. His relatives still reside in this vicinity and in. Milan.
Minor Curtis, senior member of the firm of M. Curtis & Son, who deal », extensively in threshers and engines at Milan and have sub-agencies in various parts of Ohio and Michigan, is a relative of Harvey Curtis.
Like most other old residents Mr. Curtis remembers incidents much better than dates. A great many little pioneer experiences that would be partic ::- larly interesting if their dates and relations to other events could be definitely ascertained, are necessarily omitted from this work on account of the difficulty above mentioned. Our sources of information are however on the whole un- commonly reliable.
Huron's first religious organization was the Presbyterian society, which began its course here in 1835, though occasional services were conducted by Rev. E. Judson, A. Newton, and others from 1829 to this date. Mr. Newton was called to Norwalk in 1835, where he remained for thirty-five years.
At the preliminary meeting Rev. Conger preached from Proverbs 11:30. " He that winneth souls is wise." The following named members joined the society and meeting adjourned to the school-house where an evening meeting was held. Original members: J. T. Roberts, Jerusha Jenkins, Clarissa Ho- man, L. Newkirk, Mary Jones, A. Sheffield, Dorothy Sheffield, R. Morril, Jane Morril, Eli Holliday, Katherine Holliday, Horace Holliday, O. A. Beecher, Josiah Tracy and Cynthia Wadsworth. R. Morril and E. Holliday were elected deacons and elders, and were duly installed at this meeting. Revs. E. Con- ger, Xenophon Betts and E. Judson conducted the proceedings.
Regular meetings were kept up in the school-house till 1840, when .. Sprague, J. Wright, J. Sly and J. Tracy, erected the house since occupied by Mr. Alvord, and let the church lease it at a nominal rental for a number of years.
Arrangements were begun in 1850 for the erection of the present church edifice which was completed and occupied in 1854. Rev. C. H. Taylor, J. W. Sprague, C. Woodward and H. Holliday are credited with very active and valuable service in securing the erection of this church.
Rev. E. Cole made the dedicatory prayer in January, 1854, and Rev. C. H. Taylor preached the dedication sermon. The latter was installed as pastor on the same day. The present parsonage was not built until 1884.
The ministerial succession was as follows: Rev. J. W. Beecher, Rev. F. Fitch, Rev. S. Smalley, Rev. S. Dunton, Rev. E. Cole, Rev. C. H. Taylor, Rev. W. T. Milliken, Rev. G. E. Pierce, Rev. J. G. Rossiter, Rev. J. D. Jenkins, Rev. H. B. Dye, Rev. A. Baker, Rev. H. B. Rice, Rev. C. K. Smoyer, Rev. J. Il. Snowden, Rev. E. L. Dresser, Rev. E. O. Hoyt, and the present incumbent, Rev. W. T. Hart.
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