USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
Philip Andrews was a gunsmith, a valuable trade in those days of dependency upon wild game, and dread of Indians, but gradually he worked out of this specialty and became an iron founder, and a manufac- turer of engines. He removed to Detroit, but died in Three Oaks, Mich. Mary Johnson Andrews died in 1856. They were charter members of the Stone Church. Their residence was 38 Bank Street, and Mr. An- drews' foundry was on River Street.
Their children were:
Clara Andrews, m. Henry Nash. William Andrews, m. Ann Starr. Edward Andrews, m. Elizabeth Stewart. Catherine Andrews, unmarried. Maria Andrews.
Lydia Root Andrews, a sister of Capt. P. B. Andrews and his brother Edward, married in 1824 the celebrated Oberlin clergyman Rev. Charles G. Finney.
Five years after his arrival in Cleveland, Philip B. Andrews was joined by his sixteen-year-old brother Edward W. Andrews, who worked with him in the gunsmith business, and continued it at 26 Bank Street, after his brother had relinquished it for the foundry. In 1833, the brothers bought a farm of 100 acres at the corner of Superior Street and Addison Road.
Edward W. Andrews married in 1835 Margaret McMillan, daughter of Alexander and Elisabeth McMillan. She died in 1841, and he mar- ried secondly, Delia E. Fenn.
Like his brother, he left the city in the early '50s, and died in Oberlin, Ohio, 1899, and Mrs. Andrews in 1882.
Their children :
Helen M. Andrews, m. Caius C. Cobb. She has been a life-long resident of the city.
Theodore Andrews, m. Maria L. Prevost.
Frances Andrews, m. Luman H. Tenney.
Edward W. Andrews.
Charles Richard Andrews, m. Mary Farmer.
Arthur C. Andrews, m. Mary Hunt.
251
1820
DAVIS
Thomas Davis' previous estimate of Cleveland's size and population cost him a tiresome and useless journey of nearly 12 miles, for upon land- ing here in 1820, he went past the small houses that clustered about the corner of Superior and Water streets, not dreaming that they spelled "Cleveland," and journeyed on to Newburgh, and back again after learn- ing his mistake.
He was an honest, unsophisticated youth of 21 years, fresh from Northampton, England. What causes within causes led him to leave east- ern cities and towns far behind in order to settle here at that early day is another story. He was very independent, having mastered a useful and lucrative trade, that of shoemaking. He became very well known and had a clientage that reached from the river to East Cleveland. Old residents of Collamer recall meeting him when they were children.
He married Minerva Short, daughter of Peter Short the Cleveland pioneer, and he established a "boot shop" and a residence on Erie Street, now East 9th. The south end of the Cleveland Trust Co. building over- shadows the spot. Here the Davis children were born. Thomas Davis was a very earnest Christian man, and before a church was established in this village, he used to walk, rain or shine, every Sabbath, way out to Collamer to attend religious services held there. A very pretty and characteristic story is related of him in this connection.
His very first customer, after opening his new shop on Erie Street, came into it the Sunday morning following, and requested him to mend a pair of boots at once, as he was leaving town early the next day.
"But," said Mr. Davis, "I never work on Sunday."
"There's no such day in this town," declared the man.
"Then I have brought it!" replied the young Christian.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis were among the earliest members of the Old Stone Church, and the former's simple convincing piety is tenderly re- membered by people yet living who were children of that day. The family moved out to a large farm on Woodland Ave. It adjoined the Short prop- erty and the two families lived in close proximity. Years afterward the two farms were allotted and put upon the market. The streets laid out through them became fashionable residence streets. Hundreds of the best families in the city built homes in that vicinity. To live out Woodland way in the '50s and '60s, was to be "in the swim."
Mr. and Mrs. Davis had an interesting family of children. They were :
Fanny Davis, died in young woman- hood, unmarried.
Mary Davis, m. Mr. Gilbert a south- ern gentleman, and early left a widow. She was the last remain- ing occupant of the old household near Woodland Ave., and at her death she left it as a parsonage to the Woodland Ave. Presbyte-
rian Church, of which she had been a life member.
James S. Davis, m. Helen Hunt, daughter of Harry and Katurah Yale Hunt of Auburn, N. Y. Her brother and husband were part- ners as "Davis and Hunt."
John J. Davis, m. Frances Hunt, a cousin of above.
252
1820
CLARK
Mrs. Mary Davis Buchan, daughter of James and Helen Hunt Davis, has in her possession many Colonial and pioneer souvenirs handed down through her great-grandmother Minerva Short Davis. They consist of foot-stove, warming-pan, candle-moulds, spinning-wheel, silhouettes, etc.
1820
CLARK
Hannah Cole, widow of Joseph Clark, a native of Haddam, Conn., settled in Brooklyn at an early day, perhaps some years earlier than 1820; the correct date not given. She had 10 children, all of whom mar- ried, and lived in Cleveland, Brooklyn, or Newburgh. They were:
Joseph Clark, m. Clarissa Dicken- son.
Carey Clark, m. Mary Skinner.
Diodate Clark, m. Caroline Aiken; 2nd, Sally Lindsley.
Mary Clark, m. Joseph Brainard.
Phebe Clark, m. Warren Ely.
Lydia Clark, m. Sylvanus Brooks of Newburgh.
Hannah Clark, m. Sylvanus Brooks, his second wife.
Ruth Clark, m. Capt. Isaac Robin- son.
Maria Clark, m. Erastus Smith of Warrensville, O.
Betsey Clark, m. William Aiken.
1820
DUCKWORTH
The drug-store and dwelling of William Duckworth stood east of Irad Kelley's and therefore very near the south-east corner of Superior and Bank Street. Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth came from Washington, D. C., and it is said, returned to that city in
Mrs. Duckworth was a valuable acquisition to the little village in a so- cial way; an accomplished society lady with exceptionally fine manners. She sang sweetly, and this gift gave untold pleasure to those who, loving music, were deprived of opportunities for enjoying it. There were no musi- cal instruments, no concerts, no musical sounds whatever save those of Nature and the untrained and perhaps untrue voice of some local singer. Mrs. Ducksworth was also an enthusiastic and graceful equestrienne, and we may be quite sure that when she saddled her horse and went canter- ing off, picking her way through the unfinished streets, around the stumps that obstructed them, more than one village housewife disapproved, and wondered if Mrs. Duckworth's home was in apple-pie order, and if her mending and patching were all completed.
She was remarkably pretty and vivacious, giving to the plain little
253
1820
BOUGHTON
village a glimpse of what high society life was in the eastern cities. But her kind heart won the affection of all, and no gathering was complete without her presence.
The writer regrets that Mrs. Duckworth's maiden name cannot be ascertained, and begs that if in any future time some reader of this possesses the needed data, it will kindly be forwarded to the Western Reserve Historical Society, for insertion in its copy of this Memorial.
1820
BOUGHTON
The name of Boughton in this section of the country was once asso- ciated with wit and humor; for every one bearing it was noted for drollery, fun, and practical jokes.
There was a Nathan Boughton from West Stockbridge, Mass., who with his wife stopped at the Merwin tavern on their way to Lorain Co. They were much fatigued from traveling, and retired early. Sev- eral well-known citizens of the town were sitting in the office of the tav- ern, when they were suddenly startled by the voice of Boughton, seem- ingly in great distress, calling :
"Mr. Merwin, Mr. Merwin, come here quick !"
Mr. Merwin seized a candle and followed by the others rushed up- stairs.
"What is the matter? What is the matter?" they cried.
"Oh, Mr. Merwin, won't you bring me a pint of yeast right away?"
"What for?" asked the astonished landlord.
"To put under my head to raise it. My pillow is too flat."
Gaius Boughton was one of the town's characters in an early date. He kept a tavern on the corner of Water and St. Clair streets. Over the door hung a sign ornamented by the picture of a lion. In an advertise- ment of the house, it reads :
"Will be known by the sign of the red Ly on."
He was full of his jokes and attracted men to his place by his queer sayings and doings. The tramp problem evidently began in this town very early in its history, and Gaius Boughton solved it in a manner cop- ied to this day. He marched the beggar of food and lodging out to the wood-pile and kept him at work until he had sawed and split enough wood to pay his way.
What became of Gaius Boughton cannot be learned. He was here not long before the cholera epidemic, and may have died in it. Or he may have moved out of town about that time. No mention is made of any children. If there were any who survived him, it is to be regretted that they cannot be traced, as Mr. Boughton seems to have been a notable character and much liked by early citizens.
Rhoda Boughton, a daughter of Nathan Boughton before mentioned,
254
1820
BURTON
married Samuel Smith Baldwin, Cleveland's first sheriff. She was a grand, good woman.
Her sister Polly Boughton, Mrs. Jonathan Rawson, inherited the family love of fun. Many stories are told of her in this connection. One of them was the way she took to reprove a selfish, thoughtless neighbor who borrowed without returning. She had no flour-sieve, and neglected to buy one so long as she could use Mrs. Rawson's. But she would not take the trouble ever to return it. Mrs. Rawson grew tired of having to go after it, and one day came armed with a switch. Upon receiving the sieve, she stood and whipped it, saying,
"Now, will you come home the next time you are borrowed? You know I have no one to send for you when needed, and I cannot take the time to come myself."
She never had to go after it again.
Guy Boughton of Carlisle, probably a brother of Rhoda and Polly, and perhaps of Gaius, was known far and wide for his pranks. One of these was to invite a newly arrived neighboring woman to call upon his wife because the latter was "very deaf and did not go out of her home." He told his wife of the intended call, and warned her that she would have to talk loudly as the neighbor had lost her hearing. The two women shrieked at each other until one remarked, "You need not talk so loud unless you prefer to, as I can hear readily." "Well, you do not have to shout at me, as I am not deaf, either," replied the other. Meanwhile, Guy was rolling on the grass in an ecstasy of glee.
1820 BURTON
"How would it seem to you, out your way, if there should be no longer a Dr. Burton?" was asked recently of an old resident of East Cleveland. "Mighty queer," he answered.
"One Dr. Burton brought me safely into the world, his son was with us when my children were born, and Dr. Burton 3rd is looking after my grandchildren."
It is indeed a rare experience for a community to have a father, son, and grandson living almost upon the same spot while practising medicine continuously for 92 consecutive years and with every prospect of many more to come, as the grandson is yet on the sunny side of 60.
The first of the name rode into East Cleveland on horse-back, in 1820. Dr. Elijah Burton was a young married man with at least one child when he removed from Manchester, Bemington County, Vermont, to Cleve- land. He made his new home on Euclid Ave., now No. 14110, and there he lived until his death in 1854, when the only son, who had been his partner for eight years, took up his father's mantle, wearing it most worthily for nearly 50 years more.
The wife of Dr. Elijah Burton was Mary Hollister Burton, who died
255
1820
HARRIS
in 1827, leaving three little children, the youngest but a year and a half old. They were:
Lucy Burton, b. 1817; m. George C. Dr. Erasmus Darwin Burton, b. Dodge. 1825; m. Emmeline Miriam of
Frances Burton, m. Seth Doan, Jr. Randolph, Portage County, O., in 1854.
She died in Wisconsin.
Mary Hollister Burton was laid away in the little church cemetery corner of Euclid and Doan Street.
Dr. Elijah Burton married 2nd, Abigail Hollister, a sister of his de- ceased wife. They had one child, Mary Burton, who remained unmarried.
Dr. E. D. Burton* retired about 12 years ago after 55 years of prac- tice. He is a gentleman of the old school rarely met with these days. He possesses a striking personality, a dignified bearing, and his clean-cut countenance shows unusual culture and refinement. He is spending his last days among his books and newspapers in the old homestead on Euclid Avenue. His only son, also a physician, lives near by and on the original home-lot.
The children of Dr. Erasmus and Emmeline Burton :
Elizabeth Burton, b. 1857; unmar- ried.
Martha Burton, b. 1859; unmar-
Dr. Frederick Darwin Burton, b. 1855 ; m. Catherine Axe. ried. Jessie A. Burton, b. 1861; unmar- ried.
1820
HARRIS
Among the sad cases of families selling their New England homes, sacrificing household and personal effects dear through association, and traveling hundreds of miles in ox-team or on foot, only to find bitter disappointment and even death awaiting them at the end of their journey, were those of Ephraim Sherman and Calvin Harris.
The latter was from Brattleboro, Vt., and the nearest neighbor of the grandfather of Rutherford B. Hayes, who came to Ohio about the same time, 1820, but settled farther south in the state. Mr. Harris was a wheelwright and carpenter as well as farmer, and was 56 years of age when he made his Ohio venture. His wife was Susannah Bullock, daugh- ter of William Bullock of Rickoboth, Mass., who removed to Guilford, Vt., in 1762. She was 49 years old and the mother of eleven children when she came west. The third living one, Marian Harris, had married Capt. Emer- son Goodenough, and did not accompany her parents here. The other and younger children were Jessie, William, Henry, Ariel, Belinda, Eliza, Lydia,
* Since Deceased.
256
1820
HARRIS
and Susannah Harris. Jessie was 25 years old and married. Susannah was nine years of age.
The family settled on Broadway near Willson Ave., now East 55th St., on what was afterwards called the "Streator Farm." A year after their arrival, Belinda Harris wrote to her sister Marian in Vermont, giving graphic detail of their new home and typical of events familiar to the average pioneer. It was written in May, 1821.
"Mother has been ill with malaria, but is pretty smart again, and spins her usual day's work. She is making soap, and whitening cloth. Lydia and Eliza-Belinda's sisters-are spinning tow, the boys plowing, planting, and making maple-sugar, while I some expect to teach where I did last summer."
Poor Belinda! She died of malarial fever two years later, aged 19 years. Her mother soon followed her to the "Better Land," a phrase in this case of great significance, and the husband and father, himself ill, discouraged and disheartened, sacrificed everything in order to have the funds with which to take the remaining members of his household back to Vermont. The property he left behind him became very valuable in time, and had he held on to it, his descendants would have been made wealthy. Three of his children, however, remained here, Jessie, Ariel, and Eliza Harris.
Jessie Harris had married, before coming west, Miss Elisabeth Pad- dleford. She died in 1822 in her 29th year, leaving two young children, Hannah Harris, who became the wife of Abel Putnam, and Elisabeth Harris, who married Clark Woodfone. Jessie Harris married 2nd, Pop- lin Sherwin, daughter of Ahimaaz Sherwin, Sr., of Doan's Corners. They had one son, Calvin Harris.
Jessie Harris died in the fatal summer of 1827, and his widow three years later. The two daughters and son must have joined the Calvin Harris family in Vermont, for they all married and died in that state. In after years, Mrs. Hannah Putnam brought fine headstones of Vermont marble, and placed them at the graves of her parents in Harvard Grove Cemetery. Adjoining them are the graves of her grandmother, Mrs. Calvin Harris, and her aunt Belinda. A letter written by Jessie Harris in 1824, to a relative in Brattleboro, Vt., contains a good description of the Cleveland of that day.
"A turnpike is being laid out from Cleveland to the Ohio River, which goes by Ariel's door. He is about four miles from Cleveland, which is a very thriving town. It has now nine stores, and two men from New York are going to open more this fall. There are three taverns, and six men who keep salt for sale, which they barter for all kinds of produce. There are six vessels owned in Cleveland, which are constantly sailing the lakes. All kinds of merchandise is sold here, and it is thought a canal from the Ohio River will come into the lake at this point."
Three years later brought the expected canal, and that year he died. In a letter written shortly before it, the hopeful note is completely lack- ing, and he speaks of the high taxes, the scarcity of money, the decreased value of property. The long looked-for water highway which should have given to the town a big boom, and added measurably to its growth and prosperity, had an entirely different effect. The terrible malaria
257
1820
KIRKE
that followed immediately after the event, greatly depleted the popula- tion by deaths and by the removal of families who had lost all faith in the healthfulness of the town.
Ariel Harris, second son of Calvin and Susannah Harris, married, in 1820, Clarissa Leland Sherman, daughter of Ephriam and Remember Cook Sherman. Both were but 18 years of age, and they went to live with the groom's parents on Broadway. Afterward he bought the Samuel Miles farm on what is now Woodhill Road, and here they died.
The Harris family were Presbyterians of the old-fashioned kind. They prepared their Sabbath meals on the previous Saturday, and noth- ing was cooked on Sunday save hot drinks. They went three miles to church, taking a cold lunch with them, and remained for the afternoon service.
Eliza Harris, however, the one sister who chose to remain west and lived with Ariel many years, was an ardent Episcopalian. She used to drive over to St. John's Church, West Side, then Ohio City, to attend service, as Trinity Church had no edifice at that time. She finally re- turned to Vermont, having married, late in life, a Mr. Chapman of Windham, in that state. Her Cleveland relatives were often warmly wel- comed in her eastern home.
1820
KIRKE
When in 1837 Cleveland was presented with a city charter, she at once handed out to several leading citizens municipal gifts of more or less value, none of which were bestowed upon late comers. Only tried men and true were selected for the honors, therefore it seemed only natural and proper that upon George Kirke should be pinned the marshal's badge, George Kirke the genial, familiar figure upon the streets of Cleveland since 1820, when he came to town a lad of 19 from Canal Fulton, O.
There was much interest and curiosity centered in the new office. Cleveland village had possessed sheriffs and marshals galore, but none of these could boast the high honor of being the City Marshal. So well did the office fit the man, or vice versa, that he was retained for three consecutive terms. His salary, meanwhile, was $500 a year and an addi- tional 2 per cent. on all collections he secured for the city treasury.
He was the owner of a magnificent New Foundland dog which accom- panied him in his duties as marshal, and it is claimed the animal became quite famous as a rogue-catcher.
Mr. Kirke was the son of Michael and Christina Ball Kirke of Canal Fulton. In the 48 years of his residence in Cleveland he changed his business several times. He had previously learned the shoe-making trade, and in his first years in town kept a "shoe shop," as it was then termed. Then he became landlord of a small tavern, and later had a livery, always a pleasant occupation for one who loves horses, and in the days lacking
258
1820
HAND
street-cars, usually a profitable one. His partner was Charles H. Weeden at first, then the firm became "Kirke & Geer." The stables were on Bank street housed in a large brick building, back of the Commercial Bank.
Mr. Kirke was considered a wit, and his quick, sharp repartee was often quoted. He was a reader, and in his younger days fond of declaim- ing Burns' poems.
Matilda Sterling Kirke, wife of George Kirke, was the daughter of John and Elisabeth Sterling. She was born in Canton, O., in 1814, and died in 1883.
She was a thoroughly good woman, kind, unselfish, whose every effort was directed towards raising her family of daughters in harmony with the traditions of modesty, usefulness, and social manners, which she her- self had inherited. She was short, in her middle age stout, and ever ener- getic. Her early membership in the Old Stone Church indicates a life influenced by religious principles.
The family residence at first was No. 88 Water street. It was a lit- tle, old rambling cottage, and "wide open stood the doorway," surrounded by a large and beautiful garden in which grew primeval forest and fruit trees.
About 1850 a home was purchased on Huron Street, just west of old Grace Church, at that time far from the noise and confusion of the city.
The children of George and Matilda Sterling Kirke were all born on Water Street. They were:
Cornelia Kirke, b. 1832; m. W. H. Elisabeth Matilda Kirke, b. 1843; m. Taylor. She died 1902. Wm. H. Hayes.
Rebecca Kirke, b. 1834; m. E. C. Garlick; died 1903.
Fanny Augusta Kirke, b. 1845; m. Maurice Converse.
Georgiana Kirke, b. 1839; unmar- ried ; died 1889.
Grandchildren of George Kirke residing in the city are: Miss Mary E. Garlick, William Kirke Hayes, Maurice Converse, Jr.
1820
HAND
There was a family of this name living in Newburgh, at a very early day. Only three of them, however, are on record. Whether there were more members of the family, and whether their parents also came to Newburgh, cannot be ascertained.
Hezekiah Hand, married Margaret Ives in 1825.
Doty Hand, married Amos Hubbard
in 1828. He died in 1833, and she m. 2nd, John Healy.
259
1820
DUNLAP
The Hubbard children were Heman H., John Titus, and Esther Hub- bard.
1820
DUNLAP
Mrs. Mary Dunlap, widow of William Dunlap, and of a prominent old family of Schenectady, N. Y., was one of the mothers who followed her children to the west, leaving friends and the associations of a life- time in order to be with them. She came, probably, soon after her hus- band's death, making her home with Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Walworth and spending her declining years with the latter. She died in 1840, aged 84 years. Her daughters were:
Sarah Dunlap, born 1775; m. Prof. Joshua Beattie. He was a school- teacher and kept a private school in Cleveland for some years. They had a large family of interesting daughters, all but two of whom died, one after the other, of con- sumption.
Mary and Sarah Jane Beattie are living east.
Nancy Dunlap, born 1793, married Elisha Taylor.
Mary Ann Dunlap, born 1797, mar- ried Ashbel Walworth.
Elisabeth Dunlap, born 1785; died unmarried 1862.
Mrs. Mary Dunlap and her daughters Nancy and Elisabeth rest in Erie Street Cemetery, to the left and near the front entrance.
1820
"Steamboat Walk-in-the-Water will sail from Buffalo June 10, for Michilimacinac. Will call for passengers at intermediate ports. Capt. Jedediah Rogers." (Cleveland Herald.)
Died. "Pardee Chapman, resident of Euclid Street beyond Willson Ave." (Herald.)
Joseph Clark, of Doan's Corners, advertises that he has a shop there.
Peggy Dow, wife of Lorenzo Dow, the earliest itinerate preacher, dies near Hebron, Conn.
Philemon Baldwin advertises a runaway bound boy named Ansel Cowdry, 16 years old.
George MacPherson was a tailor working and living on Bank Street.
Auction sale of property belonging to Moses Gleason, Jacob Spoffor, and Aaron Rice, or to their estate, advertised in Herald.
260
1821
TOWNSEND
William Gaylord dies, and Leonard Case appointed his administra- tor. (Mrs. Leonard Case was a Gaylord.)
It is said that an eastern man owning the two-acre lot north-east cor- ner of Ontario and Public Square offered this year to donate the deed of it for a Methodist church. No one was found able or willing to pay the recorder's fee, and the deed was not accepted.
The first stage coach from the east arrived this year.
1821
Poll-tax is a dollar on every 100 acres of first-rate land, 75 cents on second-class, and 50 cents for third-class. The tax could be worked out at the rate of 75 cents a day.
It was no unusual sight on a Sabbath morning to see a stone boat drawn by horses or oxen leisurely making its way along Euclid toward the Square, or coming toward town on what is now Woodland or Broadway. And seated on this conveyance would be an entire family with perhaps a neighbor or two, bound for church either in the log court-house on the north-west corner of the Square or in the little red school-house on St. Clair street just below Bank, now West 6th. There were no carriages in those days, and heavy wagons would sink to the hubs in mud. So these mud-scows, as they were sometimes termed, would be used to con- vey the family to church or to school-gatherings.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.