USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Ohio, the future great state, her manufacturers, and a history of her commercial cities, Cincinnati and Cleveland > Part 10
USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Ohio, the future great state, her manufacturers, and a history of her commercial cities, Cincinnati and Cleveland > Part 10
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The years 1798, 1799, and 1800 were remarkable for the early commencement of genial weather. Pinks were in bloom in February, and peach-trees were in full blossom in March. In 1801 the first distillery was erected by David Bryant. The memorable Fourth of July of the same year was celebrated by the first ball in Cleveland, which took place in Major Carter's log house, on the slope from Superior Street to the harbor, and was attended by thirty persons of both sexes. The first village school was held in Major Carter's house, in 1802, and the children were taught by Anna Spafford.
In 1803 Elisha Norton arrived in Cleveland with a stock of goods, principally adapted to the Indian trade, which he exhibitetl for sale in Major Carter's house. The State of Ohio was this year admitted into the Union; and the first election was held at James Kingsbury's. The first post-office was established here in 1804, when letters were received and transmitted every seven days.
In 1805 the harbor was made a port of entry, and classed with the Erie District. In the same year the territory on the west side of the Cuyahoga was ceded to the State by treaty. During the negotiations for that treaty, one of the commissioners-
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CLEVELAND.
Hon. Gideon Granger -- distinguished for enterprise and forethought, uttered to his astonished associates this bold, and what was then deemed extraordinary, prediction : " Within fifty years an extensive city will occupy these grounds, and vessels will sail directly from this port into the Atlantic Ocean." The prediction has been fulfilled, though tlie latter portion of it required an extension of time, of a year or two, to make the fulfillment literal.
In 1806 Nathan Perry and family, and Judge Walworth, removed to Cleveland, the latter from Painesville. In the same year the first militia training occurred. The place of rendezvous was Doane's Corner, and the muster amounted to about fifty men.
In 1809 the county of Cuyahoga was formed, Cleveland chosen as the county-seat, and Amos Spafford was elected Representative. The same year Abraham Hickox com- menced business as a blacksmith, under the euphonious cognomen of "Uncle Abram."
On the 5th of June, 1810, the first Court of Record was held in a frame building erected by Elias and Harvey Murray, on the north side of Superior Street, of which Judge Ruggles was President, assisted by three associate judges, George Wallis and family arrived this year, and opened a tavern. Samuel and Matthew Williamson began business as tanners. Dr. David Long commenced practice as a physician, and Alfred Kelley as the first attorney in Cleveland. Elias and Harvey Murray opened a store this year in Union Lane, and may be termed the first general merchants.
In 1812 was the first trial for murder, and the execution in Cleveland, that of the Indian O'Mic, for the murder of two white trappers near Sandusky City. In the same year the court-house was built. The first brick house erected in the city was that of J. R. & I. Kelley, on Superior Street. It was built in 1814; but the bricks were very unlike those of the present day, being more than twice their size. They were made in Cleveland. This edifice was soon succeeded by another of the same material, built by Alfred Kelley, on .Water Street.
In 1815 Cleveland was incorporated by the Legislature, with a village charter, and Alfred Kelley was the first President. In 1816 the first bank was established in the city, under the title of "The Commercial Bank of Lake Erie," of which Leonard Case took the management. In that year the number of vessels enrolled as hailing from the port of Cleveland was but seven, and their aggregate burden, 430 tons.
In 1817 the first Church was organized, which was the Episcopal Church of Trinity; but it was not until 1828 that the edifice was erected on the corner of Seneca and St. Clair Streets. On the 31st of July, 1818, the first newspaper was printed in this city,
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the Cleveland Gazette and Commercial Register. On the first of September, in the same year, the first steam vessel entered the harbor. The Walk in the Water, commanded by Captain Fish, from Buffalo, putting in on his way to Detroit. It was three hundred tons burden, and had accommodations for one hundred cabin, and a greater number of steerage passengers, and was propelled at the rate of eight or ten miles per hour. Its arrival and departure was greeted with several rounds of artillery, and many persons accompanied her to Detroit.
In 1819 Mr. Barber built a log hut on the west side of the harbor, and may be considered the first permanent settler in Ohio City. In 1820 was established the stage conveyance to Columbus; and in the Autumn a second proceeded to Norwalk. In 1821 these efforts were followed by others, and two additional wagons were started, one for Pittsburg, and the other for Buffalo. In 1825 an appropriation was made by the Government for the improvement of the harbor, being the first government aid received for that purpose. The water in the river was frequently so shallow that it was customary for vessels to lie off in the lake and transfer passengers and freight by boat. On the 4th of July, in that year, ground was broken at Licking Summit for the Ohio Canal, to connect the waters of Lake Erie at Cleveland with those of the Ohio River at Portsmouth.
In 1827, Mr. Walworth, the harbor-master and Government Agent, proceeded to Washington, and, after the most strenuous exertions, succeeded in obtaining a further grant of $10,000 for the improvement of the harbor. In the same year, the Ohio Canal was opened to Akron, and the first importation of coal to Cleveland made. In 1828, a new court-house was erected on Public Square. The light-house, on the bluff at the end of Water Street, was built in 1830, the lantern being one hundred and thirty-five feet above the water level. In 1832 the Ohio Canal was finished, and communications between the lake and the Ohio River opened. In the same year, a new jail was built.
In 1834 some of the streets were graded, and the village assumed such importance that application for a city charter began to be talked of. The population of the city had grown in 1835. to 5,080, having more than doubled in two years. There was at this time an immense rush of people to the West. Steamers ran from Buffalo to Detroit crowded with passengers, with a fare of eight dollars-the number on board, what would now be called sinall boats, sometimes reaching five hundred to six hundred per- sons. The line hired steamers, and fined them one hundred dollars if the round trip was not made in eight days; the slower boats not being able to make that time with any certainty, frequently stopped at Cleveland, discharged their passengers, and put back to
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'Buffalo. It sometimes chanced that the shore accommodations were insufficient for the great crowd of emigrants stopping over at this port, and the steamers were hired to lie off the port all night that the passengers might have sleeping accommodations. In that year, fire destroyed a large part of the business portion of Cleveland. At the same period, James S. Clark built, at his own expense, the old Columbus Street Bridge, con- necting Cleveland with Brooklyn Township, and donated it to the city. Two years later, this bridge was the occasion of a scene of the famous "Battle of the Bridge."
In 1836, Cleveland was granted a charter as a city. Greatly to the mortification of many of the citizens, the people across the river received their charter for the organ- ization of Ohio City before that for the city of Cleveland came to hand; and Ohio City, therefore, took precedence on point of age. This tended to embitter the jealous rivalry between the two cities; and it was only after long years this feeling between the dwellers on the two sides of the river died out. The settlement on the west side of the river had been made originally by Josiah Barber and Richard Lord. Soon after, Alonzo Carter purchased on that side of the river, and kept tavern in the " Red House," opposite Superior Street. In 1831 the Buffalo Company purchased the " Carter Farm," which covered the low lands toward the mouth of the river and the overlooking bluffs. They covered the low grounds with warehouses, and the bluffs with stores and resi- dences. Hotels were erected, and preparations made for the building up of the city that should far eclipse the older settlement on the east side of the river. The company. excavated a short ship-canal from the Cuyahoga to the old river bend at the east end; and the waters being high, the steamboat passed into the lake through a natural channel in the west end. When it was proposed to get a city charter for Cleveland, negotiations were entered into between the leading men on both sides of the river with the purpose of either consolidating the two villages into one city, or at least acting in harmony. The parties could agree neither on the terms. of consolidation nor on boundaries. The negotiations were broken off, and each side started its deputation to Columbus to pro- cure a city charter, with the result we have already noticed. Ohio City was ambitious to have a harbor of its own, entirely independent of Cleveland, and to the advantages of which that city could lay no claim. The old river bed was to be deepened, and the channel to the lake at the west end reopened as a preliminary to this ignoring of the Cleveland harbor entrance of the Cuyahoga. A canal was cut through the marsh from opposite the entrance to the Ohio Canal to the old river bed, which was thus to be made the terminus of the Ohio Canal.
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In 1837 city rivalry ran so high that it resulted in the "Battle of the Bridge." Both sides claimed jurisdiction over the Columbus Street bridge, built by Mr. Clark and donated for public use. Armed men turned out on either side to take possession of the disputed structure; a field-piece was posted on the low ground on the Cleveland side, to rake the bridge; guns, pistols, crowbars, clubs, and stones were frequently used on both sides. Men were wounded of both parties-three of them seriously. The draw was cut away, the middle pier and the western abutment partially blown down, and the field- piece spiked by the Westsiders. But the sheriff and city marshal of Cleveland appeared on the scene, gained possession of the dilapidated bridge, which had been given to the city of Cleveland, and lodged some of the rioters in the county jail. This removed the bridge question from the camp and battle-field to the more peaceful locality of the courts.
In 1840 the population increased to 6,071, so that, notwithstanding the city had been suffering from depression, there was an influx of at least I,coo persons in the last five years.
In 1841 the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal was completed, connecting the Ohio Canal at Akron, and the Ohio River at Beaver, Pennsylvania, thus forming water com- munication with Pittsburg. The United States Marine Hospital, pleasantly situated on the banks of the lake, was commenced in 1844, and not completed until 1852. It is surrounded by eight acres of ground, and is designed to accommodate a hundred and forty patients.
In 1845 the city voted to loan its credit for $200,000 toward the construction of a railroad from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati; and subsequently the credit of the city was pledged for $100,000 toward the completion of the Cleveland and Erie, or Lake Shore line. In 1851, the 23d of February, the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincin- nati Railroad was opened for travel; and on the same day forty miles of the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad was likewise completed. These circumstances produced great rejoicings, for during the period of their construction the city had been almost daily adding to the number of its inhabitants, so that it nearly doubled in the last six years- its population being now 21, 140; and in the following year (1852) it added 87 persons per week to its numbers, being then 25,670. In 1858 the new 'court-house was built, and the old one on the Public Square was taken down.
We have thus glanced at a few of the leading incidents of the city. In 1860 the population for combined city was 43,838; in 1866, 67,500; in 1870, 100,000; and to-day Cleveland contains not less than 140,000 inhabitants.
COR. EUGLID AVENUE AND SHERIFF STREET
W.J Morgan & Co, Kath Chevakmn !. "
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EUCLID AVENUE OPERA-HOUSE, CLEVELAND, O.
ON another page we present a fine lithograph of the Euclid Avenue Opera-house. of Cleveland, Ohio, and it is sufficient to know that Cleveland has now one of the most completely appointed places of amusement that has ever been erected in America. In design of exterior, in location, and in finish and furnish of interior, there is nothing that surpasses it. The main entrance is from Euclid Avenue, and we are ushered into a vestibule forty feet wide, the floor of which is laid with tessellated and mosaic marble. Midway in the grand entrance is the box-office, which is of itself a model. Every thing about it is arranged for convenience and the rapid dispatch of business. Next comes the grand auditorium. On the first floor is the orchestra and the orchestra circle. The seats are of the latest and most approved patterns of chair, upholstered in crimson plush. The main lobby is also on this floor, wide, airy, and upholstered with the best Brussels carpeting. Ascending an easy flight of stairs to the balcony, we find the seats arranged in order similar to the orchestra floor. the lobby being lighted with two large chandeliers and several side brackets. Another easy staircase leads us to the family circle, where one finds the seating better than has ever before been placed in this portion of a theater in this country. The view is equally as good as from any part of the house, and it is a favorite resort. The house has no gallery. The private boxes are marvels of beauty and elegance, and they are fitted up in the most luxurious style. The seating capacity is over sixteen hundred. The frescoing is admirable, especially the dome, which con- tains four groups, representing Music, Comedy, Tragedy, and Poetry. The stage has had extraordinary pains taken with it, and there is nothing known to the machinist of modern times that has not been investigated, and the best of all adopted. The drop- curtain is of garnet satin, trimmed with gold and black, and the grand prismatic reflecting chandelier is the largest in the country. The heating apparatus is perfect. In fact. every detail has had a master head superintending it. Mr. John A. Ellsier has been the master spirit in the enterprise, and through his perseverance and indomitable will are the citizens of Cleveland indebted for their amusement palace.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
BIOGRAPHY is the most important feature of history, for the record of lives of individuals appears to be invested with more vitality and interest than the dry details of general historical narrative. In biography the attention is not distracted by a multiplic- ity of leading and disconnected events, but every incident that is related serves to illustrate the character of some eminent person, and is another light by which we can see more clearly the elements which form their being.
The gentlemen whose biographies make so large a portion of this work have not been selected on account of their wealth, their social position, or their particular avocation, but from other and more worthy motives. In the number are embraced the professions and most of the other callings of life, and they find a place in this book from the circumstance that they excel in their respective vocations-are men of sterling virtue, and in their efforts to establish position and fortune they have given wealth, stamina, and character to the State of Ohio. We have no favorites to support, no political or sec- tarian interest to advance, but in choosing the subjects of these biographies, have been guided by a sense of duty, and a wish to pay some tribute to well deserved merit.
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Biographies of those who have become identified with the progress of the great State-who have guided and directed its business currents year by year, swelling with the elements of prosperity, and who have left the impress of their genius and judgment upon the legislative enactments of our State-must be sought after with avidity, and must be fraught with useful information.
It will be a source of satisfaction to the reader to know that the biographies of individuals who adorn this work are not drawn by the flighty imagination from airy nothingness, but represent the lineaments of men, nearly all of whom are living, who have achieved lofty positions, are still active in the busy, bustling world, and afford standing examples of business excellence and moral and social virtues.
In writing the lives of these men, the author has not attempted to swell facts beyond their proper magnitude, for the incidents which make up the biographies are of sufficient importance in themselves to vest them with interest without the adventitious aid of the imagination.
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DAVID SINTON.
THERE are some men whose characters are so nobly planned by nature, and so plentifully adorned with those virtues which ennoble humanity, that it is a duty and a pleasure to write their biographies and hand them as memorials to posterity for its benefit and instruction.
DAVID SINTON was born in the north of Ireland, though he is purely Anglo-Saxon, and, on his mother's side, a direct descendant from Marshal M'Donald, celebrated in the army of Napoleon, and, on his father's side, from the Swintons of England. The subject of this sketch was brought to America when only three years old, and ten years later found him paving his own way and earning his own living. After seven years of business experience he started to the Hanging Rock Iron Region-his worldly possessions being $13.25-there took a position as clerk in the river storehouse of the Union Iron Works, selling their productions, such as hollow ware, etc. He also accompanied the flat boats to Cincinnati, Louisville, etc., and helped dispose of their wares. Two years later, from his peculiar aptitude and acquirements. he was appointed manager of the Union Furnace-the first furnace built in the region-and this may be marked as his first step in the iron interests. Little by little did he creep onward till he became one of the largest producers, though not without passing through all the ziscissitudes and fluctua- tions attendant upon such careers, till he has now reached a position and amassed a . fortune that would content the extravagant requirements of royalty.
David Sinton has liberally dispensed his charities, and seen and enjoyed the fruits of them while living. His good works live around him, and he can enjoy them. He has the love and respect of zealous, admiring friends, and thousands of young hearts who are educated by his bounty, breathe his name with gratitude.
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David Sinter
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HON. VALENTINE B. HORTON.
VALENTINE B. HORTON was born in Windsor, Vermont, January, 1802, and was educated at the Military Academy, Norwich, Connecticut, after which he read and studied law at Middletown, Connecticut, commencing the practice at Pittsburg in 1830, afterward in Cincinnati. In 1835 he moved to Pomeroy, Ohio-his present residence- and immediately became a member of the original firm of Pomeroy, Sons & Co., Mr. S. Wyllys Pomeroy, the senior member of the firm,- being among the original owners in the Ohio Company's purchase of the central tract on which the city of Pomeroy now stands.
For many years Mr. Horton has retired from the legal profession, and devoted him- self to developing the resources of that portion of the salt and coal country in which he is so largely interested, besides being the largest and most successful farmer in Meigs and Hamilton Counties, owning and raising a deal of blooded stock. He has also been noted for introducing many implements in his interested agricultural districts to cheapen and facilitate production.
It is often asserted-but without a shadow of reasonable support -- that if a man have genius and talent he will become eminent in the sphere he moves in, even if he has not the advantages of proper previous training. Examples are not often given of men who, by the mere force of intellect, without its being strengthened by proper train- ing and preparation, become lights in the various avocations and professions of life. Fortunately for Mr. Horton, he had received all the adventitious assistance of thorough training in mental exercise previous to commencing the study of the law, and when he had mastered his profession, he possessed an untold advantage over those who had been deprived of a suitable preparatory education. His polished eloquence, the fund of knowledge which he could draw from a thousand sources to strengthen and adorn it, and his suavity of manner, soon won him hosts of friends and made him eminent in the community. It was not to be supposed that a man of Mr. Horton's ability and popu- larity should not receive from the public some demonstration of its confidence by serving them in some important position ; so in 1849 he was elected a member of the Ohio Con- stitutional Convention, held at Cincinnati, to remodel the State laws. He also repre- sented his constituents in Congress three times; namely, 1854, 1856, and 1860, and in him was found a bitter enemy of the Legal Tender Act. In 1860 and 1861, in company with Salmon P. Chase, he represented Ohio in the National Peace Congress.
In 1832 he married Miss Clara, daughter of S. Wyllys Pomeroy-so well known in the annals of Pomeroy-having five children. He has been successful in all of his business pursuits, from a rare combination of industry and judgment, and has gained the confidence and respect of the community by at all times exhibiting a rectitude of charac- ter which never wavered from the proper direction. His age sits lightly on him, and his health gives promise of many years of usefulness in the positions he has so long occupied.
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DAVID TOD.
Hoy. DAVID TOD was born at Youngstown, Trumbull (now Mahoning) County, in this State, on the 21st of February, 1805. His father, the Hon. George Tod, settled in Ohio in 1800, having left his native State, Connecticut, with many other of the early pioneers who settled the Western Reserve. At the death of his father in 1841, David Tod was then practicing law with great success and ability, having been admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two, in 1827, and having opened an office at Warren, where he followed his profession for fifteen years. As a lawyer, none were more successful. As a criminal lawyer he won such renown as to extend his reputation throughout the West.
From his youth he had a strong love of politics, was an ardent admirer of Jackson, and, in consequence, of the Democratic party, for whose success he cast his first vote. In 1838 he was elected to the State Senate over Hon. John Crowell, now of Cleveland, his Whig competitor.
In 1840 he took the stump for Martin Van Buren, and won a reputation as a speaker, which at once gave him prominence among the great orators of the State.
Such was his popularity with his own party that in 1844 he was brought out as their candidate for Governor, receiving a unanimous nomination ; and in that struggle, though the Whig party had an overwhelming majority in the State, his opponent's, Bartley, majority was only about one thousand; while Clay's, the following month, over Polk, was six thousand. About this time, Colonel Tod retired from his profession to his farm at Brier Hill, and for the next three years devoted himself to agricultural pursuits.
In 1847, President Polk, unsolicited, tendered him the appointment of Minister to the Court of Brazil, which position he held till 1852.
On his return and during the Presidential canvass, Colonel Tod did effective service in the campaign which secured the election of Mr. Pierce. He also participated in the canvass of 1856. In 1860 he was delegate to the Charleston Convention, and a strong Douglas man; though in 1861 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, Governor of the State, a position he filled the two following years with credit to his party.
. To Mr. Tod more than any other man belongs the honor of inaugurating the steps which led to the development of the vast coal mines of the Mahoning Valley. Mr. Tod warmly advocated the peace measures before and after the meeting of the Peace Congress in February. He was nominated and elected by the Republicans in 1868 as one of the electors of President for the State at large, but his sudden demise on the 13th of November, 1868, prevented his meeting the Electoral College at Columbus, and casting his vote for General Grant. Such was the respect and esteem for ex-Governor Tod, and the feeling entertained toward him, that his funeral was attended by a num- ber .estimated at twenty thousand people. The inhabitants of the Mahoning Valley, and the citizens of Youngstown especially, of all classes, have long mourned the loss to them of David Tod, their cherished friend, adviser, and benefactor.
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