USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 9
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 9
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" Negotiations were finally entered into in which they proposed to give up the chase if they could not persuade them to return after a private confab ; but this was objected to unless in the presence of two or more of their friends. By this time the strangers began to discover some very decided manifestations of dis- pleasure among the crowd, as some of them had been so indiscreet as to bring with them old rifles and muskets, from which an occasional pop would be heard in the distance. They then, as night was approaching, commenced a retrograde movement for the hotel from whence they started, followed by the citizens thus hastily assembled, and took up quarters till morning. But a strong guard re- mained in and about the house all night, and it was strongly suspected that they did not get a very good night's rest, as early in the morning they called for their horses, and made preparations to return to old Virginia. Being Sunday, the pious folks then and there thought it their duty to give them a pressing invita- tion to stop over until the next day, and join them in their devotions. But no;
they could not be coaxed into that; and immediately started, with oaths and imprecations upon the d-d Yankees. The crowd of citizens, amounting to near two hundred, then formed a procession in their rear, and most gently escorted them out of town.
" That night a consultation was held among the friends of the bondmen, and it was concluded-as some feared they might return from the Ohio river with a strong force-to send them forward to another locality, where they would not be so readily discovered. The next night the two slaves were legally married, and with a liberal outfit my dear friend and relative brought them in his carriage fifty miles, and landed them at my house in Concord early the next morning. That friend was the late Jared F. Smalley, and father of one of the now editors of the Cleveland Herald. May his name be handed down as a true friend of the bond- man ! These fugitives were never after molested, but remained in this neighbor- hood till the notorious and infamous enactment of Congress in 1852, when they concluded their only safety would be a flight to Canada."
A FUGITIVE SLAVE STORY.
" In the year 1841 there appeared at Oberlin a runaway slave by the name of Lewis Clarke, who had escaped from Kentucky. Finding an opportunity for educating himself among sympathizing friends, he thought the privilege too precious to be enjoyed by himself alone, and, as he had a brother and sister still bound in the shackles of slavery, from which he had so recently broken away, he at once formed the resolution to rescue them also and bring them north. Encouraged by the advice of friends he succeeded, and in a short time he had both brother and sister in Oberlin. Of course his master was thoroughly enraged at losing so many valuable chattels in so short a time, and at once began to hunt for them by advertising. By chance one Chapman, a young lawyer of Elyria, saw one of these advertisements, and, being well acquainted in Oberlin, knew of the arrival of these fugitives. He at once put himself in communication with the owner, a planter in Kentucky, named McGowan, and proffered his assist- ance in the matter, who immediately responded by sending his son, who was accompanied by a professional slave-catcher, named Posthlewait, who formed the celebrated firm of Posthlewait & McGowan.
" On their arrival in Lorain county they found the Clarkes absent on a visit to Madison, in Lake County, where they were spending a short time in the family of Dr. Merriman. They immediately proceeded there, accompanied by the informer, Chapman, and came across Milton Clarke on the road, riding with some of the family of the doctor. They succeeded in arresting him without much difficulty, being taken by surprise. The victim was taken before the Hon. D. R. Paige, of Madison, who was associate judge of the county, who soon opened court in the tavern of Mr. J. Bliss, in the town of Madison. In the mean time the alarm had been given and word was carried all over the eastern part of the county, so that before the trial was through wagons were pouring into town, loaded with young and old men, all in a high state of excitement, and determined that no slave should be taken from Lake County.
" A warrant had been sworn out before Justice Cunningham against Posthlewait and McGowan for assault and battery on the person of Milton Clarke, the alleged slave. In the trial, which was being had before Judge Paige, Clarke was defended by General James H. Paine, a prominent and devoted abolitionist, but without avail. The judge gave his decision against Clarke and gave him up to the slave-catchers. No sooner was the trial closed than the writ issued by Justice Cunningham was served by the sheriff, Jabez A. Tracy, who proceeded with his prisoners, Posthle- wait and McGowan, to the residence of Esquire Cunningham, who lived on the road forming the line between Lake and Ashtabula counties. A procession was formed, consisting of the sheriff, his prisoners, accompanied by the judge, and the fugitive Clarke, followed by a long line of wagons, buggies, foot-passengers-all by this time in the highest state of excitement-towards Unionville, a village partly in Lake and partly in Ashtabula counties,-Esquire Cunningham living half a mile north.
"On their arrival at the village they found a large concourse of people gathered on the Lake County side of the road, so that they could not pass without going on to the Ashtabula side of the road, which they evidently disliked to do. Ap- parently the name was terribly distasteful to them. They tried to ride down the crowd, which resulted in a sharp fight at once. During the fight Robert Harper, Esq., of Harpersfield, who was on hand in behalf of the Democratic party, trying to assist in returning the claimed slave, mounted a dry-goods box and read the riot act and commanded the peace ; but, as he was in Lake County and his juris- diction did not extend beyond Ashtabula county, peace didn't come. They flour- ished their pistols and threatened to fire, but the crowd were not easily intimidated, but stood their ground, armed with fence-rails and other weapons hastily procured. The judge begged them to put up their pistols or they would never get back to Kentucky.
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" After a sharp and hot contest of about half an hour, they were forced over into Ashtabula county. No sooner there than they were arrested by Sheriff John A. Prentiss on a writ of habeas corpus, issued that morning by Judge Jonathan Warner, of Jefferson, who proceeded with the crowd to the residence of Mr. Cun- ningham. After the return made by the sheriff and the production of the pris- oners it was nearly dark, and the court adjourned until the next morning,-the prisoners giving bonds to be on hand at that time.
" In the mean time Sheriff Prentiss had Clarke in custody, instead of the parties who held him, and whom he was ordered by the writ to arrest,-he seeming to feel it more important to have the slave in safe-keeping than the slave-catchers, who were safe and under bonds till morning. About nine or ten o'clock at night he took Clarke and proceeded to Jefferson to make return of the writ. It was surmised by some persons there that the sheriff ought to have some assistance in making a safe return of the papers and prisoners. Mr. Augustus Pepoon, of Painesville, having his team there, Mr. L. L. Rice, editor, and Mr. Philander Winchester, publisher, of the Painesville Telegraph, together with Mr. Seth Mar- shall-all earnest abolitionists-volunteered to render aid, and started for Jefferson in the wake of the sheriff. George Fisher, of Madison, a prominent Democrat, was sent out to see that Clarke did not escape. He rode on horseback by the side of the teams almost to Jefferson, when, it being rather a dark night, he took the wrong road and became separated from the rest. Sheriff Prentiss rode up to the tavern and left Clarke there while he went to find the judge and make return of his doings. The assistant volunteers thought Clarke might be lonesome, and asked him to take a ride with them.
"Taking him in the wagon, they took the back track, and proceeded immediately to Austinburg, to the residence of Strong Austin, who, being a thorough-going abolitionist, pledged himself for his safe keeping; and he fully redeemed his pledge, for no more was heard of Clarke until he turned up in Canada, and years after did good service in the anti-slavery cause in lecturing in different parts of the country. The rescuers of Clarke turned homeward, stopping overnight with Dr. Hawley, of Austinburg. In the morning they arrived at Unionville just as the court was in session. The prisoners plead not guilty, and as there was an important witness in the case, in the person of Clarke, absent, it was thought by General J. H. Paine, in behalf of the prosecution, not to press the suit against the prisoners, they being strangers in this part of the country.
" Thus ended one of the most important and exciting attempts at slave-catching that ever occurred in this section of the State, in which the slave-catcher was completely foiled, the victim escaping. The anti-slavery cause received a great impetus. Posthlewait and McGowan returned to Kentucky empty-handed, but breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the abolitionists,-but no dam- age was done. Mr. Harper collected the names of forty or fifty of those most active in the day's fight; but those who carried him off were not even mentioned in that roll of honor. No suits, however, were commenced.
" These Clarkes were nearly white. Lewis, who was in the house of a friend near by when his brother Milton was captured, a few years afterwards became quite noted as an able lecturer, returning once or twice to Madison to talk to his old Democratic friends. This Lewis Clarke was the identical model of Mrs. Stowe's ' Harris,' in ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.'"
EXECUTION OF BENJAMIN WRIGHT.
May 15, 1823, occurred the first, and we believe the only, execution known to the history of Geauga County. This man suffered the extreme penalty of the law for the murder of one Warner. A. Hale, writing for the Geauga Republican, under date of May 15, 1873, says,-
" Away in the north part of Le Roy, near the bank of Grand river, beneath the shade of an apple-tree, is seen the grave of the first and only one that ever suf- fered the extreme penalty of the law in old Geauga. For fifty years the ripe fruit and falling leaves of autumn have dropped upon the grave, and the waters of the flowing river have murmured their requiem to the memory of Geauga's con- demned one. Up to the time of the commission of the crime for which he died, Ben was not considered a bad man in the community. He and his brother Aleck were great hunters. The affray in which the murder was committed was about a rifle that Warner, the victim, was retaining for an alleged debt, and thus de- priving Wright of his means of support. The murder was committed in an unguarded moment, perhaps while under the influence of liquor."
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY SOCIAL LIFE.
THE social quality was present in as strong a degree with the pioneers as it is to-day with their descendants. Humanity to a certain extent is the same the world over; and though there may be and are different ways of expressing the joys and " ills that human flesh is heir to," still, these will be found to exist in one community as certainly as in another, though not alike, nor with the same degree of contrast in all. But Geauga's pioneers had the same emotional char- acteristics that are possessed by their descendants of to-day. Desire, love, am- bition, hope, filial and parental ties, the fondness for one another's society, grief, sorrow, hatred, etc., all these were present. What actually occurred, therefore, in social life was that which reason would teach us should naturally takes place. The pioneer fathers met at one another's dwellings to compare views, to relate incidents within the range of their own experience, to speak of the olden times, of hardships incurred, of their present state, of their brighter prospects ahead. The young men and maidens had their parties, their excursions through the forest groves, their lovers' quarrels, their delights and their disappointments. The struggle for enlightenment over ignorance, and for a sure footing upon the road to prosperity, was more severe than it is to-day, because present auxiliaries were lacking; but the success so universally attained was therefore all the more striking.
This people left homes of comfort and refinement in New England, and under- took life anew in a wild forest whose soil had never felt the touch of the husband- man. Their character was tested by the new surroundings, but with a firm, strong hand they controlled circumstances, and in a large measure prevented their characters from being dwarfed by a material environment.
We who live at the present time can hardly appreciate the difficulties under which they labored. But they laid well the foundations for society here. We can trace the present prevalent social condition of the people to the influence which sprang from the exemplary lives of the first settlers. We may say of these worthy men and women that "they builded better than they knew." It is remarkable, however, that successive generations have been called upon to do this same work of laying foundations. Their ancestors contended with the diffi- culties of a new country in the early settlement of New England ; many of their children have gone out from these scenes and laid the foundations in other regions farther west. Thus each successive generation has been a generation of founders. This progress of settlement, this advance of civilization, this march of empire and conquest of soil has gone on until now the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast are the limits to its power. There was a conquering spirit in the hearts of the New England fathers. It worked through peace, freighted with blessings. Civilization followed in its wake, and society is to-day the result of what it accomplished. Two hundred years ago New England was what Ohio was when the first settlers came to this region. Bancroft says, in speaking of Connecticut in 1676, " There was venison from the hills, salmon in their season, and sugar from the trees of the forest; for foreign market little was produced beside cattle, and in return for them but few foreign luxuries stowed in. The soil had originally been justly divided or held as common property in trust for the people. Happiness was enjoyed unconsciously ; beneath the rugged exterior humanity wore its sweetest smile. There was for a long time hardly a lawyer in the land. The husbandman who held his own plow and fed his own cattle was the great man of the age. No one was superior to the matron who, with her busy daughters, kept the hum of the wheel incessantly alive spinning and weav- ing every article of their dress. Fashion was confined within narrow limits, and pride aimed at no grander equipage than a pillion, and could exult only in the common splendor of the blue-white linen gown with short sleeves, and in the snow-white flaxen apron, which, primly starched and ironed, was worn on public days by every woman in the land. There was no revolution except from the time of sowing to the time of reaping; from the plain dress of the week-day to the more trim attire of Sunday. Every family was taught to look upward to God as the fountain of all good; yet life was not sombre. The spirit of frolic mingled with innocence, and religion itself wore the garb of gayety, and the annual thanksgiving was joyous as it was sincere."
Such is the picture of the people in their homes before they set out for the forest region in this vicinity. To a very great extent, indeed, did the early con- dition of society in this locality become the repetition of it. The old character daguerreotyped itself upon the new circumstances ; the same traits appeared under new conditions.
In the early years of settlement the country was indeed new ; everything was rude and wild, the forest still covered the land, the few openings in its depths only revealed how dense were the shadows. The roadways which had been cut
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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.
through the wilderness were still lined by tangled brush and hemmed in by overhanging branches, while a single path wove in and out among the great stumps, but abounding with many a mud-hole and deep rut, which made travel- ing exceedingly slow and irksome. Little clearings had been made along the roads so that the sunlight might easily penetrate them, warming and mellowing the damp and long-darkened soil. The fields were full of piles of brush, while the great trunks of trees were hiding beneath them. Heaps of logs were blazing day and night, filling the air with smoke, far and near. An army of stumps lifted up their heads, as if in very mockery at the attempt of the husbandman. In the midst of this mingled scene, where the wildness of the primitive forest still triumphed over the improvements which had been made, the people had their homes. These homes were also rude, in keeping with the wild surroundings. They were constructed of the trees which they had felled; the rough logs pre- sented their rugged bark and notched ends at their sides and corners, while smaller poles rested on the roofs, and kept in place the long stakes or split pieces of wood. The chimneys were constructed of sticks and mud, and sometimes took up a good portion of the room within. In some cases there was an entire absence of glass, oil-paper taking its place; the doors were of rude construction, often with wooden hinges and latches. Near at hand was the well-used axe, and the beetle and wedges were not far away. A few frame houses here and there contrasted strangely with the log buildings that were scattered in every direction. It was a mingled scene of wildness and rude cultivation. Cultivation was struggling with nature. The wild Indian had disappeared ; the native forests had been invaded ; nature's spell had been broken ; but the face of culture was scarcely discernible. It was under a coarse garb and in deep disguise that the refinement of the people appeared. Yet it was present. Within the rude cottages there were many cul- tivated minds.
The refinements of society had not been lost, the privileges of their former life had not been forgotten. Piety and a zeal for improvement conspired to destroy the effect of their surroundings. They could not become rough or uncouth and barbarous with the possession of these sterling characteristics and the memory of gentler influences. "If barbarism was their first danger, piety was their safeguard."
Those homes in the wilderness ! what a gentle air pervades everything about them ! The home -spun clothing, the home-made furniture, the plain appearance of everything does not obscure the gentility of the people. The family gather around the blazing fireplace, sit down to the evening meal, happy in their home, and contented with their lot. To enter one of these domiciles at night-time was to encounter hospitality and to find a scene of happiness.
The blazing fire cast its radiance across the interior, filling the little cottage with lights and shadows, which served to disclose the faces of the inmates. Parents resting from their toil; young men and maidens with books in hands surround the blazing hearth ; children at their play or gone to their rest. All cheerful, happy amid their rude surroundings. A homelike feeling and a gentle character are predominant. We wonder, when we consider the disadvantages they experienced, that so much intelligence and refinement survived; but, when we remember that within them there was something superior to all their circum- stances, we find an explanation.
At a very early day they had secured many advantages. The school-house and the church attended the primitive settlements. Even before the fields were cleared or the forests subdued the place for schooling and the house for worship made its appearance. The first tide of immigration was not an army which had sheltered itself to leave desolation, but it was a people which had settled to bring civilization.
School-houses, built of logs, were located in different parts of the county, and were used for meetings, elections, and all other public gatherings. The influence of education and religion was very great. It overcame the rough life of the frontier, and brought in refinement and culture. There was a refining influence, too, in the forests,-the lofty arches and the whispering leaves filled the inhab- itants with a reverent spirit. The silence of solitude, broken only by the deep bass of the forest hymn, filled the soul with a sense of solemnity. There was a melancholy interest surrounding the primitive homes. The shadowy forests gathered closely their dark depths, and furnished a contrast to the little clearings, and a sense of awe mingled with the home feeling. Then again the silence of the forest was broken by the sharp ring of the axe and the crushing blow or the heavy thud of the falling tree. Occasionally the deep bay of the hound echoed through the forests, while the sharp crack of the rifle could be heard in the dis- dance. Nor was there lacking a sense of beauty in these scenes. There was beauty in the wildwood, there was beauty in the cottages, and the very location of the houses as they nestled among the trees unconsciously had its educating power. These people came together as neighbors, in the full meaning of that term. First, the Sunday meetings gave ample scope for visiting, coming together
in the morning at ten o'clock, separating at three in the afternoon. Who could help spending that hour in social intercourse ? They talked of what pertained to local interest,-of the news from old Connecticut, the political upheavals from old Europe, Bonaparte and the allied powers, or the Indian wars. Men found ample time for gossip; the young folks walked into the woods and picked winter- greens, and the women gathered in circles and groups. The social gatherings during the week were of a very friendly character. The women would gather at some house, usually going on horseback, two on a horse. Their dress was a checked apron, on the head a plain white cap, with a black ribbon over the frill ; their gown was a chintz, brought from old Connecticut. Each one carried a work- bag, and no time was lost from work. Whatever was to be done in the family could be done while visiting,-darning stockings, mending trousers, and making shirts. The horses lazily dozed at the hitching-post and gave an occasional stamp, caused by a vicious fly, while the women visit through the long afternoon. At four o'clock the tea-kettle is suspended over the blazing fire in the fireplace, and the short-cake is baked in a spider. The cross-legged table is drawn out from the wall, a brown cloth is spread over it, a small plate of butter is placed in the middle of the table, and a dish of sauce by the side of it, composed of wild plums or cranberries, sweetened with maple-sugar. There is put at each place a spoon and knife. Supper ready, the guests stand reverently while the host asks a blessing ; then seated, each one is handed a cup of tea, sweetened with maple- sugar, and the smoking hot short-cake is broken and handed around, and each one helps herself to butter with her own knife, and to sauce with her own spoon out of a common dish. Such a thing as a plate for each one was unusual. Even for breakfast the meat and potatoes were cut in morsels and fried together, then served in a dish set in the middle of the table, and all, supplied with a fork, would proceed to stab the morsels from the platter and to help themselves from a common dish.
In the winter the visiting was generally during the long evenings. One man would take his oxen and sled and call for each neighbor between his home and the place of rendezvous. Here a pile of logs aglow, thoroughly warming the one room of the house and lighting it more brilliantly than half a dozen gas-jets could do, awaited their arrival.
A social evening is spent, with refreshments, consisting of nuts, pop-corn, and maybe doughnuts. The clock hanging against the wall strikes the hour of nine, the orthodox hour of retiring, and the company disperse. Every family in the country was clothed in home-made cloth. The wool has been carded during the summer, the mother has taken it to the mill herself, the huge sack which contains it being strapped to the rear of the saddle, and in some cases rises as high as the head of the rider. With a baby in her arms and five or six colts following or capering ahead, with two or three dogs lolling with their open mouths, she, amid a cloud of dust, would make her way to the mill. Every house was a place where she was welcome to stop and take tea with the family, and rest herself and little one. Having arrived at home, the garments for the household were made of the same material which her hands had prepared from the time the wool came off from the sheep's back. In some cases the clothing of men was still more primi- tive than this. The buckskin pants which the men sometimes wore often became so tight after getting them wet, it was almost impossible to get them off. When they had dried they became so stiff that one felt as though he was clad in cast- iron. It was not an uncommon sight to see men with pants of buckskin and vests of fawnskin, with the hair left on. Boys were frequently clothed in buck- skin, and wore squirrel-skin caps, with the tails dangling.
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