USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 11
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His first married home was on Superior Street, where the American House now stands. Adjoining it was his office. He removed his family to the Walworth farm of 350 acres, having erected upon it a substantial house. This stood upon the site of the present Friendly Inn, headquar- ters of the W. C. T. U. organization, and in the immediate neighborhood of the old market house and the hay market. The Walworth homestead had a beautiful location, overlooking the river valley. Here for long years was dispensed a generous hospitality to rich and poor alike: for both Mr. and Mrs. Walworth held old-fashioned ideas regarding their duties toward kinsmen and neighbors, and their home was often a scene of social entertainment, or, for weeks at a time, a shelter for the unfortu- nate. The parents joined the Old Stone Church in their early married life, and their children in their maturity followed their example. In- deed, the whole Walworth family and all its connections from Mrs. John Walworth, Sr., followed by the Longs, Taylors, and Severances, have been the stronghold of Presbyterianism.
Ashbel Walworth removed to Euclid Avenue, west of Erie Street, and the Walworth farm was cut into building lots. There was a time when that locality was considered a most desirable residence district. But the foreign immigration into the city, and the increase of factories rapidly changed conditions, and the neighborhood once devoted to pretty resi- dences occupied by the best element of the city, degenerated into saloons, brothels, and abodes of the wretched poor.
Ashbel Walworth died suddenly in 1844, aged 54. Mrs. Walworth survived him many years, dying at an advanced age.
The children of Ashbel and Mary Dunlap Walworth:
John Walworth, b. 1821; m. Mary Race, sister of Mrs. Josiah Harris. Anne Walworth, unmarried, died on
Euclid Avenue, the last of her family.
Sarah Walworth, unmarried. William Walworth. Mary Walworth, m. Samuel Brad- bury.
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1806
NORRIS
Abram L. Norris married Abigail McIlrath in New Jersey, and with his wife and three children came to East Cleveland in this year.
Keziah Norris, m. Myndret Wemple. Annie Norris, b. 1816; m. Albert Bennet Townsend.
Phebe Norris, m. Cornelius Thorp.
Amanda Norris, b. 1808; m. Gavin Smellie.
Caroline Norris, b. 1826; m. John Worley.
Susan Norris, b. 1813.
Abraham Norris died in 1838, aged 60. Abigail Norris died in 1844, aged 58. The Norris lot is in East Cleveland Cemetery.
1806
MILES
In the various histories of Cleveland and its vicinity no mention is made of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Miles, Sr., although the county records show that they were residents in 1806, owned many acres of land in Newburgh, and as the parents of the "Miles Brothers" were important people.
The father of Charles Miles, Sr., died young, leaving a widow and several children; consequently Charles began a struggle for his own existence and that of others when but a lad. He seems to have possessed sagacity, energy and judgment in business affairs as he accumulated property in Vermont, where he lived for some years before coming to Ohio.
Mrs. Charles Miles, Sr., was the daughter of Deacon Stephen Thomp- son and wife Mary Walters Thompson of Goshen, Conn. Mrs. Sanger, a granddaughter, who, in 1901, was 89 years of age, remembers Mrs. Miles as a tall, graceful woman, with a frank, kindly face, and recalls hearing older members of the family frequently speak of her quick bravery and endless courage. Hardship, danger, and great sorrow were endured silently and uncomplainingly. These characteristics may have been inherited from her remarkable ancestress, Mary Honeywood, whose fortitude and loyalty to her friend, John Bradford, enabled her to stand by his side when he was burned at the stake, a martyr to his religious opinions.
During the first year of his marriage Mr. Mills enlisted in the militia and marched off for service in the Revolutionary War; but he became very ill and was ordered home, a soldier being detailed to accompany him, as he was unable to travel alone. In the summer of 1781 he removed with his young wife and child to Tinmouth, Vt., where he contracted for extensive tracts of land upon which, within a few years, he made his last payment.
A portion of this land was deeded by him to his sons and all of it eventually sold when the family left Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Miles had a large family of children, six sons and two daughters, all of whom, except the oldest one, were born in Tinmouth, Vt. The parents were
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1806
MILES
resolute in a determination to secure proper education for them, and several of their sons were sent to Middleburg College.
In 1801 a number of families removed from Goshen, Conn., to settle Hudson, O. Among them were Mrs. Miles' parents and several of her brothers and sisters. They wrote glowing accounts of the new country, urging Mr. Miles and his family to join them. The longing to see her own people grew so strong that finally Mrs. Miles urged her son Erastus to go and see for himself just what was the outlook and the feasibility of the removal of the family to the much vaunted Western hamlet.
It resulted in the purchase of 160 acres of land in Hudson in 1805 by Mr. Miles, Sr., and the following year he and his oldest son Theodore purchased a tract in Newburgh, now a part of Cleveland, adjoining the home of Ebenezer Pease, and not far from property belonging to Erastus Miles, the second son of the family.
Mr. Charles Miles, Sr., was 54 years old when he came to Cleveland. He lived but seven years in his new home, dying at the age of 61. He bequeathed to his widow one-third of his estate and the home with 28 acres of land; to his sons large tracts of land in Newburgh, Cleveland and Hudson, and to his daughters a fair share of the estate.
During their residence here, Mrs. Miles made frequent visits among her relatives in Hudson, O., more especially her parents, who lived to a good old age. These journeys were made on horseback, and she was often accompanied by her sister Esther Thompson, Mrs. George Pease, mother of Mrs. Irad Kelly.
For many years Mrs. Miles lived, a widow in her own home, but after the marriage of Susannah, her youngest child, who then left Cleveland, Mrs. Miles lived with her son Samuel, whose home was close by. Subse- quently she removed to the residence of Theodore, where she remained until her death in 1833, aged 73 years.
The sons in this family were prominent in the early history of Cleve- land and Newburgh, especially the older ones. They owned the frame- structure built before the War of 1812 by Murray brothers on Superior Street, adjoining the Mowrey Tavern, and which stood for many years. Theodore was a justice and frequently officiated at early marriages in this county.
Miles Avenue, one of the longest and most important streets of South- east Cleveland, was named for this family.
Erastus and Daniel Miles died in 1827, a year of great mortality in this locality, the former 44 years of age, and the latter about 36 years. They are buried in Harvard Grove Cemetery, having been removed from an earlier one. The graves of many of the Miles family, marked by weather-worn head-stones, are near the main entrance of the cemetery.
The children of Charles and Ruth Thompson Miles :
Theodore Miles, b. 1781; m. 1st, Charles Miles, m. Elisabeth Train; 2nd, Aurelia Train ; died 1818. Samuel Miles, m. Salina Hamilton.
Lydia Clark; 2nd, Fanny Buel Hawley or Holly.
Erastus Miles, b. 1783; m. Laura Carter.
Thompson Miles, m. Myra Redding- ton; 2nd, Mary Green; died 1823, aged 25 years.
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1807
BURKE
Daniel Miles, died unmarried in 1827.
Lacy. She died when not quite 16 years old.
Polly (Mary) Miles, m. Isaac J. Susannah Miles, m. Dr. Nathan H. Manter.
Theodore Miles, like his brother Erastus, led a prominent life in the community. His home was in Newburgh, but he was as well known in the village of Cleveland as at the former place. He held public and com- mercial offices of trust, and was a successful business man. Miles Park was given to the city before 1850 by Theodore Miles, but not until 1877 was it given his name. It is 165 feet wide. A branch of the Public Library stands upon it.
When Theodore Miles married secondly, Fanny B. Holly, he was given the first marriage license issued in Cuyahoga County. They were mar- ried on Monday, May 7, 1810, by Amos Spafford, the pioneer justice of the peace.
The children of Theodore and Lydia Clark Miles :
Eben Miles, m. Eunice Bates, daugh- Adeliza Miles, died at middle age; ter of Noble Bates. unmarried.
The children of Theodore and Fanny Holly Miles :
Anson Miles, m. Abby Phipps. Holly Miles, m. Sophrona Simmons. Mary Ann Miles, m. Alonzo Rath- bun. Livana Miles, unmarried. She lived Ann Eliza Miles, m. Spafford Miles, a cousin. all her days in the old homestead on Miles Avenue, and died there at an advanced age.
Lucy Miles, m. Morris Jackson. She died young.
1807
BURKE
Irene Burke, a daughter of Sylvanus and Ascha Burke, lived a life of many vicissitudes.
In 1807, when but a mere girl, she became the second wife of Augus- tus Gilbert of Newburgh. The death of his first wife bereaved a house- hold of eight children, the oldest but 16 years of age, the youngest a new-born babe.
Judge Gilbert died six years later, leaving very little property. Two of his daughters married soon after this, and probably assumed the charge of the 13-year-old brother and the youngest sisters.
Irene Burk Gilbert had to face the future with no income and with a little daughter, Louise, three years old. Three months after her hus-
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BUNNELL OR BONNELL
1807
band's death, another child was born, upon whom she bestowed her own name.
She struggled bravely to keep a roof over herself and babes, but often was obliged to leave the little ones in the care of her relatives while she worked; for in those early pioneer days there was little a woman could do for remuneration, and remain, meanwhile, in the shelter of her own home.
Finally, she gave up the futile attempt, and in December, 1816, mar- ried again. Her husband was Peter Robinson, a widower with seven children, most of them well-grown up, but as yet unmarried and living at home with their father.
To this Gilbert-Robinson household was added within the next 12 years seven more children, only one of whom lived beyond infancy, and that one, a dear little boy named Augustus, much beloved by his half- sisters, Louise and Irene Gilbert, died when he was three years old.
The sorrow of a mother seven times bereaved cannot be imagined save by one who has undergone a measure, at least, of such an experience.
Mr. Robinson died, and after another interval of loneliness and physi- cal effort, in 1832, she again married, Ephraim Hubbell, who had six children all of age and living in their own homes. Mr. Hubbell lived but a year or two afterward, and, within four years of her third marriage, Irene passed away from this checkered life, at the age of 56.
1807
BUNNELL OR BONNELL
David Bunnell and Anna McIlrath, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Cozad McIlrath, were married in Morriss County, New Jersey, and came to East Cleveland with their children in 1807. A certified list of the latter is not at hand, but the following list of family names and marriages has been furnished :
Isabell Bunnell, m. James Palmer. Removed to Michigan.
Electa Bunnell, m. Mathias Rush. Angelina Bunnell.
Johanna Bunnell, m. Joseph Pimlot. Removed to Medina, O.
Mary Bunnell, m. Gillette. Removed to Oberlin, O.
Aaron Bunnell, m. Jane Johnston. Nelson Bunnell, m. Elvira Johnston.
100
1808
BALDWIN
Samuel Smith Baldwin, son of Samuel and Hannah Northrup Baldwin of Ridgefield, Conn., came to Newburgh about 1808 and settled on a farm on Aetna Street.
In 1810 he was elected sheriff of Cuyahoga Co., the first citizen to fill that office. He officiated in this capacity when the Indian was exe- cuted on the Public Square for murder in 1812. He was also elected county surveyor, and for several years following was engaged in defining boundaries of townships, farms, and homestead lots, a busy, valuable man in this community. He died comparatively young, in 1822, and had he lived longer undoubtedly would have had much to do with the history of Cleveland in the years closely following his death.
Mrs. Samuel Smith Baldwin was Sarah Camp, only child of the Rev. Samuel Camp of Ridgefield, Conn. She brought into the wilderness of Newburgh a beautiful and unusual wardrobe for that day, indicating in all its appointments the possession of money and good taste. It also most pathetically showed that the delicately nurtured wife and daughter had no idea when she left her New England home to come west what conditions she was facing.
The oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Baldwin was born in 1798, and they had been married probably about 11 years when they removed to Newburgh. They had eight children born to them. The youngest were twins, and Mrs. Baldwin died shortly after their birth, aged 36 years.
On the day that the Battle of Lake Erie was fought, a man on horse- back came tearing up to the Baldwin home, crying, "Flee for your lives! The British and Indians are upon us!"
Mr. Baldwin was away from home, and his wife hastily hitched up a horse to a wagon, piled a feather-bed, wearing-apparel and the children into it, and whipped the horse at headlong speed towards Aurora, where Mr. Baldwin's parents and brothers lived. The trembling household of mother and young children had not gone far, however, before they were overtaken by a messenger who informed them that the alarm was false, and the supposed enemy approaching Cleveland in boats were United States soldiers, and there was no danger to be feared.
Mrs. Sarah Camp Baldwin gave her mother-in-law the first rose- bush grown in Aurora, O. Mrs. Baldwin, Sr., when on a visit to her son in Newburgh, was given a slip from one brought shortly before from Connecticut. The slip grew and became the finest of double roses and very fragrant. Mrs. Sarah Baldwin died in 1818, aged 36 years.
In July, 1819, Mr. Baldwin married 2nd, Miss Rhoda Boughton of Grafton, Lorain Co., whom he met while on one of his surveying expedi- tions.
She was the daughter of Nathan Boughton of West Stockbridge, Mass. She and her twin-brother were born while their father, Nathan Boughton, was fighting at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and therefore was about 43 years of age when she married Mr. Baldwin. She had two sisters, and probably two brothers. Gaius Boughton, pioneer of Cleve- land, may have been one of the latter. Her father died at the Baldwin homestead in 1820.
Rhoda Boughton proved to be all that Mr. Baldwin had hoped for or believed when he entrusted his motherless children to her care. He died
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1808
AMES
three years after this second marriage, leaving his affairs in such a condi- tion that no apparent income for the support of his family was afforded. This seemed a matter of great surprise to his neighbors and relatives, as he was a good business man and very energetic, one who seemed to have ample resources for the comfortable maintenance of himself and family. He dealt in real estate considerably, and in the last two years of his life was associated with Leonard Case in acquiring town lots and farming property. His descendants claim that the lot upon which now stands the city hall buildings was once owned by him in conjunction with Mr. Case. The farm had been mortgaged for money to pay on recent investments. In the loss of husband and father the family, therefore, were made homeless. The children were scattered among relatives and friends.
Mrs. Baldwin returned to Grafton and lived with her sister, Mrs. Jonathan Rawson, taking with her the twins who remained there until the marriage of their oldest sister a few years later, when they made their home with her.
The children of Samuel Smith and Sarah Camp Baldwin:
Philander Baldwin, b. 1798; died Sarah Baldwin, m. Almeron Dodge. young. Removed to Roscoe, Ill.
Lucretia Baldwin, b. 1805; m. Reu-
Henry Baldwin, m. Amanda Risley. Edward Baldwin, m. Fanny Thomp-
ben I. Henry. They lived in Au- rora, O. son. Aunt of the late Horace Ben- ton.
Caroline Baldwin, b. 1806; m. Vic- tor Cannon of Bedford.
Julia Baldwin, m. Thomas North. They moved to Wisconsin.
Emily Baldwin, twin of Edward, m. Francis Moran.
Lucretia lived with her uncle, Harry Baldwin, for some years after her mother's death. She taught district school in Brandywine, riding a horse to and from her work. It is told of her that she was generous and kind-hearted, and even in those days of heroic women was no ordinary person.
Caroline was six years old when she went to live with an aunt in Aurora. She led a long, exemplary life, an interesting woman with keen mental and spiritual insight. Francis Moran, who married Emily, was a talented and brilliant young school-teacher.
1808 AMES
Ashley Ames, an early settler of Cleveland and Newburgh, came west from Virgennes, Vt., where he was born in 1795. His father, David Ames, was a native of Hollins, N. H., and a Revolutionary soldier, who was superintendent of the Springfield, Mass., armory, and the inventor of the Ames rifle. The family was also represented in the French and Indian War.
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1808
AMES
Ashley Ames was apprenticed to a stone-mason in his home town. The man was rough and abusive in his cups, and the boy, then only 12 or 13 years of age, ran away from him. He had heard tales of the New Con- necticut, and he started for it on foot, walking all the way from Vermont to Buffalo, N. Y. Here he fell in with some Indians who were going up the lakes on a raft, and they allowed him to accompany them as far as Cleveland.
The whole story of this adventure would be an interesting one, how the child secured food on the way, what he found awaiting him here, who gave him employment, and what the work was!
However, four or five years later, he is driving a team for some one. The War of 1812 is on, and one day a detachment of troops marching through town on some expedition west of it, seized the team for trans- portation purposes and compelled the lad to drive it. He was with the army about three weeks. His brother, Stephan Ames, who had previously joined him in Cleveland, enlisted as a gunner, and years afterward was awarded 200 acres of Michigan land by the Government, which he at once sold for $100.
Ashley Ames bought a farm on Miles Avenue in Newburgh, and in 1826, married Sarah Willard, daughter of the late John O. Willard. Miss Willard's home had been on Euclid Road, corner of what is now E. 55th Street, where her widowed mother resided on a hundred-acre farm. The bride was but 16 years old on her wedding day. She was a gifted young woman who, if she had been born into a later generation, probably would have developed into a successful artist, for she had a rare sense of form and color, and often astonished her neighbors by effects produced in her household furnishing, through simple decoration and artistic arrange- ment. In connection with this gift an interesting story is related of her.
A room of her home needed papering, and in lacking the material to do it in conventional style she accomplished the job by using odds and ends of many kinds and colors of wall-paper donated by friends who had no use for them. They were all arranged so harmoniously that the effect instead of being incongruous, was like a mosaic, and most attractive.
Mrs. Ames was an accomplished needle-worker. She embroidered beautifully, and the bands of her husband's shirt-fronts were adorned with fancy stitching, and all of his underwear bore his embroidered ini- tial. She spun silk thread from cocoons, and knitted a large silk shawl in which was a pattern of birds and flowers. Her family of ten children did not prevent her from adopting two motherless little ones, whom she raised as her own.
Miss May Ames, of 9315 Miles Avenue, an artist and a teacher in the Cleveland School of Art, inherits her talent from this gifted grandmother.
In early years of his life, Ashley Ames could have become owner of a valuable piece of property that, had he availed himself of the opportunity offered, would have made his grandchildren of today able to count their fortune in seven figures.
Jonathan Johnson, an early pioneer lake-captain, owned 60 acres on Euclid Road. It was located between what is now East 34th and East 40th Street, and ran back to Central Avenue. It was covered with scrub-
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1811
AMES
oaks and brush. Capt. Johnson was not a farmer and wished to dispose of the property.
As Ashley Ames had once done him a great service, the Captain wanted to give him the first chance of buying it. Mr. Ames owned a gentle horse that Capt. Johnson coveted. So, he offered to trade the 60 acres for the horse and a promissory note for $400, payable in 15 years without interest.
Mr. Ames was afraid to accept of the offer, as the land was uncleared, and the soil poor.
Mr. Ames was somewhat eccentric, which took the form of reticence. He never answered a question promptly. Usually he showed no signs of having heard it. Then hours and perhaps days afterward he would reply casually as if at that moment addressed on the subject. He had a horror of debt, and after his death the liabilities against his estate were 35 cents for medicine used in the last days of his illness.
The children of Ashley and Sarah Williard Ames :
Henry C. Ames, b. 1827; m. Fanny Bell.
Charles Williard Ames, b. 1829; m. Mary Fitzhugh.
Harrison W. Ames, b. 1831; m. Charlotte Goodhue.
Edwin Ames, b. 1833; m. Caroline Briggs.
Ashley Ames, Jr., b. 1835; m. Jane Perkins.
John O. Ames, b. 1837; m. Helen Lewis.
Freeland H. Ames, b. 1845; died 1888.
Sarah Williard Ames, b. 1848; m. 1st, Robert Carren; 2nd, Horace Beakle.
Adelia A. Ames, b. 1851; m. George Lewis.
Anson W. Ames, b. 1854; living in Los Angeles, Cal.
It will be observed that seven sons were born in this family before there were any daughters. Mrs. Ames, therefore, initiated the younger sons in the mysteries of housekeeping, teaching them all the things in which only girls were supposed to be proficient, cooking, knitting, dish- washing, etc. They never regretted this in after life. On the contrary they were proud of their unusual accomplishments.
1811
AMES
Stephen Ames, son of David Ames of Hollis, N. H., and elder brother of Ashley Ames, came to Cleveland some time between 1808 and 1811. He was a gunner in the War of 1812, and secured 200 acres of Govern- ment land for his military services at that time.
He married Demis Ferris of Monckton, Vt., and settled on a farm on Broadway Avenue, opposite the old Cataract House. He was a wagon-
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1808
TAYLOR
maker by trade as well as a farmer. His family of three sons and seven daughters mostly left Newburgh for pioneer homes in Western states.
Children of Stephan and Demis Ames :
Wesley Ames, married in Nebraska.
Abigail Ames, m. Harry Tuttle of Independence, O. Easton Ames, lives in Iowa.
Martha Ames, m. Chester Beakle.
Alzina Ames, unmarried.
Orinda Ames, m. Charles Thomas, of Warrensville, Ohio.
Carlinda Ames, m. Mr. Warden.
Priscilla Ames, m. Jerry Craile.
Urania Ames, m. David Trevitt.
Stephan Ames died aged 86 years. He was at the time residing with his daughter, Mrs. Orinda Ames Thomas.
1808
TAYLOR
Philo Taylor came from New England to Rocky River about 1808, and bought or built a log-tavern on the eastern bank near the mouth of the stream. Here, in 1809, his eighth child was born, Egbert Taylor, said to have been the first one born in the township. The exact year that Mr. Taylor sold out and removed to town has not been recorded by his descendants. But we find him in August, 1816, helping to organize the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie, the pioneer bank of the city. He was a Cleveland merchant at that time, having a store for general merchandise on the north side of Superior, below Bank Street. He is said to have been landlord of a tavern, also, in the same spot.
In 1823, his wife, Zerviah Davenport Taylor, whom he married in 1793, and who was the mother of his eleven children, died, and was buried in Erie Street Cemetery. Shortly afterward, Mr. Taylor removed to Newburgh, but continued to be identified with the business interests of this place. Three years after the death of his wife, Zerviah, he mar- ried Miss Rhoda Baldwin of Newburgh. Philo Taylor died in 1854, aged 81 years.
The children of Philo and Zerviah Davenport Taylor filled valuable and important positions in the commercial and social life of Cleveland and Newburgh. Nothing personal has been preserved of their mother, but judging by her daughters, who were noted for their many lovely characteristics, she must have been a most estimable woman.
The children were:
Sophia Taylor, b. 1795; m. Gaius Foot of Dover; 2nd, in 1825, Elis- Burke. abeth Drury. Elisha Taylor, b. 1798; m. 1st, Delia Wealthy Taylor, m. James McKay.
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David Ames.
1809
HICKOX
Amanda Taylor, b. 1800; m. James Hyndman.
Prudency Taylor, b. 1802; m. Bra- zilla Burke. John D. Taylor, b. 1805; m. Laura Foot of Dover.
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