USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 26
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She drew a pension after Mr. Spangler's death for services he ren- dered his country during the War of 1812. She died in 1880, at the age of 91, having outlived her husband for forty-four years.
The children of Michael and Elisabeth Miller :
Margaret Spangler, m. Joseph K. Miller, son of William and Han- nah Miller.
Miller M. Spangler, m. Deborah Potts.
Catherine Spangler, m. William Lemen of England.
Basil Spangler, m. Julia Stedman,
daughter of Buckley Stedman, and secondly, Matilda McCarg.
Mary Spangler, m. Thomas Lemen,
brother of William. They both died young, leaving a little daugh- ter who became Mrs. John Under- ner.
Harriet Spangler, unmarried.
Margaret Spangler was married in 1826, and like her mother, was destined to live many years a widow, for her husband died in 1840, and she outlived him 51 years. Their residence was on Bank Street, corner of Frankfort Street.
It was said of Mrs. Miller at her death in 1891 that "she was a woman of many admirable traits of character," and that "she ended her long and active life replete with many acts of benevolence and charity."
The children of Joseph and Margaret Miller :
Mary Miller, m. Edwin Rouse. Henry Miller.
James Miller, m. Sophia Hensch.
William L. Miller, m. Augusta Pet- ingill.
* Demolished in 1913.
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SPANGLER
Miller M. Spangler was an active man through his long life, most of which was spent on the farm with his mother. He was chief of one of the voluntary fire companies that did such valuable service to the city before the present system was established. He was sheriff for many years, and did his duty most fearlessly. In later life he was a maltster doing a large business. He married, in 1839, Miss Deborah Ann Potts. She was the daughter of Samuel Potts of Ontario, Canada, and Mary Dockstader Potts.
Mrs. Miller Spangler was the niece of Nicholas, Richard, and Butler Dockstader, early residents of the town. She died in 1896, at the farm- house, corner of East Madison and Hough Aves., where she had lived many years of her married life.
They had but one child, George Spangler, who continued to live in the old homestead. He married Miss Ella Kinney, daughter of Alonzo and Eliza Sharp Kinney of Wynantskill, N. Y., and has two sons, Kinney and George Spangler.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller Spangler adopted a little girl whose parents were lost on Lake Erie. She continued to live with them until after their death.
This farm, which cost but $2,000 when purchased by the Spanglers, is at the present time worth a fortune. It was divided among the chil- dren. Spangler Ave. was named for the family.
Catherine Spangler married William Lemen in 1827. They lived on the south-east corner of the Public Square, now the site of the Cuyahoga Building, in a beautiful cottage, a famous landmark for many years. It was built of stone, was sixty feet wide, and one story high. The roof extended over the front its entire width, and was supported by eight stone columns. These were preserved when the cottage was torn down in 1854, and were used in the erection of a Grecian temple now on the family lot in Lake View Cemetery.
Mrs. Lemen lived in the "Stone Cottage" for twenty-five years. She entertained frequently, and had a large circle of friends who loved her. She was a life-long member of Trinity Church. She died in 1884, having outlived her husband 32 years. The homestead site was leased to James Parmalee in 1889 for a term of 99 years.
The children of William and Catherine Spangler Lemen :
Anna Lemen, m. William H. Sholl. Mary Lemen, m. Walter Morrison of Catherine Lemen, m. George Howe; Columbus. She died 1892.
died in 1912. D. S. P.
Basil Spangler was a merchant. He also served in the volunteer fire department, and was one of the three men who composed the first board of water commissioners of the city.
Harriet Spangler, the youngest child of the pioneers, was consid- ered a great beauty in her youth, and attracted much attention. An old lady told the writer that at an early day, while stopping at a wayside inn near Akron, she met Mr. Spangler and his daughter Harriet, who were on their way to or from Akron, and remained for the night at the same
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inn. The house was full of guests and the two young women were com- pelled to occupy the same room.
"I never before nor since saw such beautiful arms and neck as she possessed. They were dazzling white, and so prettily shaped."
To those who knew Harriet Spangler only in her eccentric and unat- tractive old age, this would seem incredible. But when living in the Spangler tavern in the '30s, she was known by the traveling public as "The Dutch beauty." She never married, but lived many years on a large, inherited property, corner of Euclid and Spangler avenues.
The Lemen brothers, William and Thomas, must have come to Cleve- land before 1827. They seemed to be very popular young men, and often were alluded to in old letters in terms of respect or affection. Thomas Lemen belonged to the volunteer department, and was captain of one of its companies. He died in 1851, and William in 1852. They left daughters, but no sons. Mrs. Catherine Underner, wife of Prof. John Un- derner, is the only living member of that generation. She is living in Zanesville, Ohio.
1820
MARKS
Four young men started together in 1820 on a journey from Mil- ford, Conn., to Cleveland, each intent upon buying land in the Ohio wil- derness, clearing it off into a farm, and establishing thereon a home. They were Nehemiah Marks, Wilson Bennet, Richard Treat, and Victor Clark. Only the first-named selected this locality, the others settling outside the township. Upon reaching Cleveland, they first hunted up a former Milford neighbor who had preceded them and built a log-house on the present site of Calvary Cemetery, and was keeping bachelor's hall until the arrival of his family from the east. Thomas Ross welcomed the weary travelers, and entertained them until they could decide upon their future movements.
Nehemiah Marks hesitated between two 100-acre tracts of land offered for sale. One was in the vicinity of the present market-house and be- tween Broadway and the river-valley, at three dollars an acre. The soil seemed poor, the timber on it of inferior quality, so he chose the other one, on Broadway but miles eastward, at five dollars an acre. Had he selected the 100 acres at the junction of Woodland and Broadway, and held it, leasing it for long terms as it developed, today no prudent de- scendant of Nehemiah Marks would be without a comfortable income.
In 1822, Mr. Marks married Clarissa Parmeter. The ceremony was performed by Theodore Miles in the Miles homestead, now the Turney residence. She was the daughter of William and Lorana Meigs Parmeter of Rutland, Vt. She had been a school-teacher in her native state.
Miss Parmater received an unexpected offer one day from a neighbor who was about to start for Ohio. He told her that she might accompany them, if she wished, free of expense, if she would drive a one-horse wagon for them all the way. But she must be at his house the next morning before sunrise, all ready to start.
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This was short notice for such an important change in her life, and to go on such a long journey. She was equal to the occasion, however, and hurriedly disposing of her household goods, collecting money due her for teaching, paying a few debts, and preparing her wardrobe, she was on hand the next morning at the appointed time.
Soon after her arrival in Newburgh, she began teaching near where the State Hospital now stands. In 1822 she married Nehemiah Marks, and began housekeeping the next day in a log-house where they lived together 54 years. They had four daughters, and two sons. She died in 1876, as dies the Christian, in a full faith of another and better life.
Nehemiah Marks went back to Connecticut in 1821. Except a ride of 26 miles, he walked all the way. It is claimed that it took but 13 days to accomplish the journey. When he returned to Ohio he drove an ox-team, a horse and wagon, his sister Content Marks accompanying him.
When the Marks log-cabin was raised, a big crowd of neighbors and friends turned out to give a helping hand. Mr. Marks preserved a list of these. It is still cherished by his son, and it is interesting to note how many names of well-known Newburgh pioneers it contains. Mr. and Mrs. Marks once entertained a guest who became a national celebrity. The summer of 1845 was marked by a disastrous drouth. Consequently, there was a scant hay-crop, and scarcely grain enough to seed the following year's corn and wheat-fields. Hay was $20 a ton, and cows could be bought for three dollars each.
December 10th, a tall man wearing a plug hat and swallow-tailed coat appeared at the Marks cabin. He was driving a flock of 104 sheep. Mr. Marks recognized him as John Brown, living in a county south of this one, and a dealer in stock.
"You must put me up, Mr. Marks," he exclaimed. "Now don't say 'No.' My sheep are wet and starving. I have come from Buffalo on a steamer, and the waves washed over the decks and into the hold, soak- ing my sheep through to the skin. I drove them all the way on foot from Connecticut to Buffalo, and from the river here. You must take us in, Mr. Marks. Now don't say 'No,'" he repeated.
He was entertained, and his sheep fed and sheltered for the night. Mr. Brown was asked if he would share a bed with one of the youngsters of the household, and readily acquiesced. The son who had the honor of sleeping with "John Brown, whose soul is marching on," was Nehe- miah Marks, Jr., still living at the age of 79.
The children of Nehemiah and Clarissa Marks :
Mary Louisa Marks, b. 1823; m. Ja- cob Flick.
LaFayette Marks, b. 1825; m. Jane Osborn.
Caroline Marks, b. 1826; m. Aaron Palmer.
Marilla Marks, b. 1828; m. Harlow E. Faulk.
Rosetta Marks, b. 1831; m. 1st, Charles E. Chamberlain; 2nd, Addison Halladay.
Nehemiah Marks, Jr., b. 1833; m. Maria Wells.
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PRITCHARD
Nehemiah Marks, Sr., was the youngest son of Abraham and Con- tent Merwin Marks. His mother was related to the Cleveland Merwins, early pioneers of the village. Mr. Marks died in 1879, and his wife Clarissa Parmater Marks in 1876.
Nehemiah Marks, Jr., possesses an old flint-musket that has been in his family for 157 years, perhaps longer. It was used by three genera- tions in three wars, father, son, and grandson, in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Mr. Marks' grand- father, William Parmater, and his two brothers, John and Joshua Par- mater, were also in the Revolutionary War.
1820
PRITCHARD
Jared and Anna Baird Pritchard living in East Cleveland had three daughters and a son, all of whom married into prominent pioneer families of the town.
Anna Pritchard, m. Horace Gun. Baird Pritchard, m. Julia Pardee. Sally Pritchard, m. Samuel Potter, Polly Pritchard, m. Timothy Doan. removed to Medina.
Mrs. Julia Pardee Pritchard was born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1796, came to Cleveland in 1832. She became a widow early, and lived many years No. 97 St. Clair street, supporting her family through a boarding- house. She was a fervent Methodist, and much beloved in that society when its only church edifice stood on St. Clair street, corner of Wood. She came to be well known as "Mother" Pritchard. She died 1874.
The children of Baird and Julia Pritchard :
Anna Pritchard, m. Capt. Stanard. Harriet Pritchard.
(There was a steamboat captain Marcus A. Pritchard, a sailor.
living here in 1845, Capt. C. C. Stanard.)
1820
TITUS
There were two brothers and a sister by the name of Titus living in Newburgh at an early day, Stephen, James, and Phebe Titus. Stephen married Cynthia Hubbard, daughter of Aaron Hubbard, who came to Newburgh in 1820.
She was an intelligent, kind woman, an exceedingly interesting cor- respondent. They removed to Brandon, Wis., and her children used to
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beg the privilege of reading her letters to the relatives in Newburgh and elsewhere before they were mailed, for they often contained news items which had escaped their own observation.
Two of her children married into the Ely family of Deerfield, O., Mary Titus to Hanson Ely, and Giles Titus to Mary Ely. Eliza Titus married James Reeves and died in Wisconsin. Louise Titus married twice, 1st to William Hubbard, 2nd to a Mr. Millard; removed to Mar- quette, Mich. Melissa Titus married Edward Stickle, and removed to Dakota. Phebe Titus ยท remained single.
Giles Titus, Hanson Ely, and their wives died in Iowa, aged people.
James Titus, brother of Stephen, married Philena White, who also came to Newburgh in 1820. They lived on Kinsman street and raised a family of children, Mary, Eliza, Sarah, Henrietta and John Titus. Henrietta was blind all her life. John married a Miss Foot, and re- moved to Wellington, Ohio.
Phebe Titus, the sister of Stephen and James, married Peter Wilsie. She had three sons, Stephen, Reuben, and Wilkeson Wilsie, all of whom, if yet living, would be very old men. The family all moved to some western state.
1820
WEDDELL
Only two generations, covering a period of 94 years, bridge the arrival of a noted Cleveland pioneer and today.
Peter Martin Weddell came here in 1820, aged 32 years. Horace Weddell, his only living son, walks the streets of Cleveland in 1914, erect, alert, his bearing suggesting many more years of life before him.
Peter M. Weddell came from Pennsylvania, a state that furnished the Spanglers, and other valuable recruits to Cleveland's early citizenship. His father died before he was born, and after the second marriage of his mother, she took him with her to live in Kentucky. Either the step- father was poor, or personally objectionable, for Peter was only 14 years old when he started out to earn his own living. His first employment as clerk in a store, so demonstrated his faithfulness and usefulness that he was taken into partnership with his employer, doubtless without fur- nishing any capital.
During the War of 1812, and when in his '20s, he made a venture of fortune by investing in a store in Newark, Ohio. Thither came Sophia Lenora Perry, eldest daughter of Nathan Perry, Jr., a Cleveland pioneer. Hull's surrender had caused great excitement and fear all along the south shore of Lake Erie. It was possible that the British troops and Indians might swoop down upon the settlers any time. Many families fled in a body, or sent some of the younger members to points farther south.
Mrs. Robert Gilmore, a sister of Mrs. Nathan Perry, Jr., resided in Newark, and Miss Sophia was dispatched to her for safe keeping. Here she met Mr. Weddell, and though very young, barely 16 years, married
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him in 1815. Five years later they removed to Cleveland, doubtless for Mrs. Weddell's sake, that she might be near her mother, for Newark, at that time, was far more prosperous than this town, and from a business stand-point, had greater possibilities.
The store and dwelling of Nathan Perry was on the corner of Su- perior and Water streets, and the Weddells first lived in a small house east of it. In 1821, Mr. Weddell bought the lot where the east end of the Rockefeller Building now stands. It belonged originally to David Clark who died on Water Street in 1806. Uncle Abram Hickox's blacksmith shop had previously occupied the lot, and this was then removed to the other side of the street near Seneca, now West 3rd. Mr. Weddell built a brick store on the corner, and over this the family lived for a year or two.
Peter M. and Sophia L. Weddell had four children:
Laura and Caroline Weddell, died Horace Weddell, b. 1823, married young. 1st, Mary Webster, daughter of
Peter P. Weddell, b. 1817; died 1839, Benjamin Webster; 2nd, Mary Tinerman.
aged 22 years.
The life of Mrs. Sophia Perry Weddell was brief. She died in 1823 when only 23 years of age, and was buried in the Perry lot in old Erie Street Cemetery.
A portrait of her, painted by the famous artist, Rembrant Peale, is a treasured possession of her son, Horace Weddell. The features of this portrait are beautiful and expressive.
A year after his wife's death, Mr. Weddell married 2nd, Mrs. Eliza Owen Bell, a charming young widow, the daughter of Noah and Elisabeth Gilmore Owens of Coimens on the Hudson River, who removed to New- ark, Ohio, early in the '20s. Eliza Owen married David Bell who died a year or two afterward. His widow came to Cleveland on a visit and married Mr. Weddell.
She was a noble Christian woman, gentle and sympathetic. She was a sweet singer, and her voice gave unusual pleasure because so few women of that day were musical. She was also a kind neighbor, and in a quiet way, very charitable.
The son of a pioneer related to the writer one instance of this kind. His father lost everything in a financial panic, and the following win- ter was unable to provide sufficient support for his family. One day, there was nothing in the house to eat, and the husband and father was frantic with anxiety and self-reproach. At twilight that evening, a bas- ket filled with delicious food of various kinds was found at the door, and every week after that until times became easier, Mrs. Weddell, who was the secret donor, divided her baking with them, besides sending groceries from her husband's store. The relater's eyes filled with tears as he re- called the story of a family's distress and of neighborly kindness.
Mrs. Eliza Weddell was better known than her predecessor, because she lived longer, and at a later day. The life of the first young wife was so brief in Cleveland that probably no one living recalls her. Mrs. Eliza
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Weddell was a true mother to Mrs. Sophia Weddell's children, the only ones in the homestead, as the former had none of her own.
About the time of his second marriage, Mr. Weddell built a two-story wing on the west side of his store as a residence. The store was on the corner and on a line with the sidewalk, the residence part set back from the street. It had a nice front porch, and a walk led to the entrance through a pretty flower-garden, Mrs. Weddell's pride, and which received her daily care.
She lived in this Superior street home 20 years. Meanwhile, Mr. Weddell had purchased several acres of land on the north side of Euclid Avenue, beyond Nathan Perry's residence, upon which he built a spa- cious stone cottage, which by additions in after years, became delight- fully rambling and picturesque. To this he retired, leaving his business in the care of his partner, Dudley Baldwin. In 1845, the store and ad- joining dwelling were demolished, and a large hotel, the finest in the west, was built on the site, and called the "Weddell House," a conspicuous landmark of the city for 60 years. When finished, Mr. Weddell went to New York City to purchase its furniture, and became ill there of typhoid fever. He hastened home, to die three weeks later.
Peter M. Weddell was the first treasurer of the Old Stone Church. He left behind him a reputation for kindliness and helpfulness, especially toward young men struggling to get a foothold in business for themselves. Mrs. Eliza Owen Weddell died in 1886, having survived her husband nearly 40 years. They both rest in Erie Street Cemetery.
The children of Horace and Mary Webster Weddell :
Laurance Weddell, m. Miss Everett, Frank Weddell, m. Miss Webber.
dau. of Sylvester Everett. Mabel Weddell, unmarried.
Children of Horace and Mary T. Weddell :
Frederick A. Weddell.
Grace Weddell, m. Walter Rich of English birth.
The following is an editorial by W. R. Rose in Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 25, 1914 :
On June 19th of the present year Horace Perry Weddell, son of Peter M. Weddell, died at his home in Cleveland, in his 91st year. He was born in the village of Cleaveland on Nov. 27, 1823, in a brick store and residence, the most pretentious structure of its day, at the corner of Superior and W. 6th streets, where the Rockefeller building stands, and for his four- score-years-and-ten remained a citizen of his native town.
It is a privilege given to few men to witness in a lifetime the changes, the growth, the mighty developments in every line of world progress that came within the observation of Horace Weddell.
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CLEVELAND IN 1823
In 1823 Cleaveland was a village of possibly 500 souls, whose struggle to enlarge an opening in the wilderness briskly continued. It possessed but one school house, the Cleveland Academy; its first stage line had been in operation but two years; its river mouth was blocked by sand bars. When Horace Weddell was 2 years old ground was broken for the Ohio canal. He was 4 years old when the first ton of coal reached the village; he was 5 years old when the river was sufficiently deepened to admit the free passage of sixty-ton schooners.
He was born during the Monroe administration, two years after the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, in the year of Lafayette's visit to the United States. Edmund Kean and Sarah Siddons, the greatest players on the English stage, were upholding their profession; Sir Walter Scott was on the eve of declaring himself the author of the Waverley novels; George IV was king of England; Louis XVIII was king of France.
Horace Weddell was 4 years old when Beethoven died; he was 4 years old when the Mormon church was organized; 6 years old when William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born; 9 years old when the first Democratic national convention was held in Baltimore; 10 years old when Oberlin college was founded; 14 years old when Queen Victoria began her long reign. He antedated by a few months Alexander Dumas, Wilkie Collins, Stonewall Jackson, George William Curtis, Levi P. Mor- ton. He was 14 years older than the city of Chicago.
NINETY YEARS OF GROWTH
Horace Weddell never lost his keen interest in the progress of the city of which he had so long been a part. No Clevelander has equaled his unusual opportunities for following our city's rise. He saw Cleveland's police force increase from two watchmen to an efficient battalion of trained officers. He saw the fire department rise from the hand pump in 1832 to the great fire-fighting brigade of today. He saw the half-dozen tiny schooners that warped their way over the sand bars prove the nucleus of a mighty lake fleet. He saw the one school house increase to more than 100 modern school buildings. He saw the village of a single acre become a municipality of approximately fifty square miles.
He saw the trading post of the '20s become the nation's sixth city in population, the fifth in manufacturing, the fourth in banking.
And all this in one man's lifetime!
1820 WIGGINS
Nathaniel Wiggins and his wife Phebe Dodge Wiggins came with a grown family of children from Montpelier, Vt., and settled on a farm on what is now Turney Avenue. The site is on a hill back of the Cleveland State Hospital.
Mrs. Wiggins was of an active temperament and very fond of her home. She used to gather wild fruit and berries in quantities, dry them,
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and thus in the winter season vary the monotony of the fare which was apt to prevail in the days before fruit-canning was discovered.
The children of Nathaniel and Phebe Wiggins :
Nahum Wiggins, m. Phebe Dunham of Bedford, O.
Benjamin Wiggins, m. Lucy Bates.
Mary Wiggins, m. William Huntoon.
Charles Wiggins, m. Maria Rara- back.
Theodore Wiggins, d. unmarried.
Lucy Wiggins, m. James Fletcher.
1820
SHEPARD
Jason Shepard was one of the early settlers of Newburgh. In 1813 he married Hannah Skinner who was born in Albany, Vt.
They came in 1820 with their two children to Buffalo, N. Y., and continued the journey on the steamer "Walk-in-the-Water." For two weeks the boat was buffeted by storms back and forth. It was a dread- ful experience. They were greatly frightened and woefully sick every moment of the trip.
Mr. and Mrs. Shepard lived on Bedford Road for ten years, then re- moved to what is now Turney Avenue. Two years later while caring for a stranger dying of cholera, Mr. Shepard took the disease and lived but a few hours afterward. His wife was also very ill, but recovered and lived to be an old lady.
"Grandma Shepard," as she was called, was a woman of much energy and great endurance. In late life she loved to relate her experiences of pioneer life and could tell many interesting stories of early people of the town.
The children of Jason and Hannah Shepard :
Elias Shepard, m. Eliza Greenlese Adelia Shepard, m. Charles Scott. of Niagara, Ont.
Children of Elias and Eliza Shepard :
Jason Shepard. Marion Shepard, m. Henry Bray-
George Clement Shepard, m. Inez ton. Mitchell. Henry Shepard, m. Margaret Tay-
Charles Shepard, m. Mary Smith. lor.
1820 ANDREWS
Nathaniel Andrews of Whitestown, N. Y., and descended from John and Mary Andrews, original settlers of Farmington, Conn., furnished two sons to the hamlet of Cleveland, who became valuable citizens.
The eldest son, Philip B. Andrews, arrived here in 1820, then twenty-
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four years of age. He had married the previous year, Catherine A. Tracy, and within a few months of his arrival, she died, and was buried in the Ontario Street Cemetery, from which she was removed to Erie Street Cemetery, when the former place of burial was destroyed. In 1822, he married Mary Johnson, a sister of Capt. William and Capt. Har- pin Johnson, pioneer settlers of Cleveland.
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