USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 29
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The next year after his arrival in Cleveland, Mr. Bradstreet went back to New Hampshire on an errand of romance, returning with a bride. His small but loyal congregation received her with affectionate welcome. She was Miss Anna Dana Smith of Amherst, N. H., and 23 years old. From the day she reached Cleveland until her death she was greatly ad- mired and loved. She possessed the rare gifts of beauty, education, and tact, and her sweet manners won the hearts of all who met her. She out- lived her husband 21 years, dying in 1858. Upon her tombstone was en- graved : "Useful, loved, lamented."
The Bradstreets had four children, two of whom died in infancy and are buried in Erie Street Cemetery. One son, Henry Martyn, a promis- ing youth, died in California. The remaining one, Edward P. Bradstreet, became one of Cincinnati's leading lawyers.
Rev. Stephen I. Bradstreet remained in Cleveland seven years. The following three were spent in missionary work to the lake towns between Cleveland and Toledo. In 1834 he helped to found and edited the Ohio Observer, the first religious paper published in the state. He returned to Cleveland in 1836 and attempted to start another religious paper here. It was an unfortunate time for any new project, as a great financial cri- sis was close at hand. He died in the height of the panic, June, 1837.
The graves of Mr. Bradstreet and infant children are in Erie street cemetery at the right of the main entrance.
1823
DUNHAM
A quaint reminder of pioneer days still stands on the north side of Euclid Ave., between Dunham and Russell avenues. On this spot once stood an isolated log-cabin set in an unbroken forest, and in it lived Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham, who, in 1823; left their home in Mansfield, Mass., and began life anew on this farm of 140 acres, stretching from Euclid Ave. to what is now Hough Ave.
But although land-rich, they suffered many years of privation before they regained the comforts left behind them in Massachusetts and before trees and stumps gave way to growing crops. Sometimes the larder was so low that there was nothing much but corn-meal and potatoes in the house, and once when this happened poor Mrs. Dunham was placed in a most embarrassing situation.
For who should claim her hospitality but a party of old neighbors and friends from Mansfield, who were journeying to a point still farther west. Mrs. Dunham, however, was equal to the occasion. Slipping out of the house unobserved, she walked way out to Elijah Ingersol's on the heights, three miles away, and borrowed some salt pork and flour. Returning with it, she soon had a tempting meal prepared for her guests, who, hav- ing known her more prosperous days in the east, and realizing little of
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1823
DUNHAM
the hardships of pioneer life, never dreamed what worry and exertion that dinner had caused her.
Mrs. Dunham had much strength of character, and while bearing pa- tiently privations entailed upon every one thus set down in a wilderness and far from centers of supplies, she had no idea of submitting to unnec- essary trials.
Once, when temporarily sharing her log-house with another family, the two housewives often found themselves without sufficient firewood with which to cook the meals. The men had neglected to see that they were supplied before going off to the other part of the farm to work.
A big pile of logs was east of the house, but they were all too long, even for the commodious fire-place within, so one day, when again out of fuel and out of patience as well, they concluded to teach their delin- quent husbands a lesson, and so setting fire to the whole pile, they cooked the dinner by it.
Euclid Avenue in those days was "Euclid Road," and much of the time was almost impassable. There was a good deal of marshland on the south side of it, reaching back to and beyond what is now Cedar Avenue. The Dunham children often picked many quarts of huckle-berries in a low, wet place near the south-east corner of Euclid and Willson Avenues, where the Pennsylvania Railroad Station and Kelley Island Lime and Warehouse stand.
After some years of pioneer life, Mr. Dunham was enabled to replace the old log-house for the one now standing, a large frame-building with a western wing. It was used as a country tavern for almost half a century, but now serves as a very attractive private residence.
The Dunham children who reached maturity were:
Charles H. Dunham, m. Jane Craw- Caroline Dunham, m. James Welsh.
ford, daughter of Benjamin and Loretta Dunham, m. Robert Pier.
Riddle Crawford, a pioneer of the East End.
The quaint old Dunham tavern, No. 6709 Euclid Avenue, is occupied as a private residence by Dr. J. A. Stephens.
Robert Pier, who married Loretta Dunham, was the son of Dr. Ira W. Pier. His mother, Sarah Bradford, was a direct descendant of Gov- ernor Bradford of the "Mayflower."
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pier lived on Euclid Ave., corner of Dorchester Ave., for many years.
Their children were:
Frances Pier, m. Henry Sprague. son of Daniel and Sarah Stacey Josephine Pier, m. Charles Denzer, Denzer.
272
1824
RICE
"There is no aim more laudable than a desire to live to some pur- pose."
This sentiment, written by Harvey Rice, one of Cleveland's most emi- nent citizens, was the key-note of his life, and it was that which made him honored and respected beyond what most men obtain in any community. He was born in the first year of the last century, at Conway, Mass. His father, Stephen Rice, was a lineal descendant of Edward Rice of Sudbury, Mass., 1638, a man of consequence in his day and generation, both in church and state.
His mother was Lucy Baker, and when she married Stephen Rice was the young widow of a Mr. Harvey. Possessing unusual ability and for those times, quite a degree of literary attainment, she, doubtless, would have proved a wise and tender mother, an inspiration for this her only surviving child, but her death when he was but four years of age completely changed his home environment. No longer loved and cher- ished, and left to the cruel mercies of the world in general, Harvey Rice suffered loneliness and deprivation. For, though his father was living, and willing to pay a reasonable price for the child's board and clothes, he was always traveling, and for eight years the little fellow was trans- ferred from one family to another, until he reached that of an exceed- ingly pious woman who fed him for months, absolutely nothing but potatoes and salt served on a corner of the kitchen-table, while the family were eating other things at an adjoining one.
His school-lunch was hard, dry bread without any butter, and cheese unfit for any human stomach. Through the mercy of a neighbor, less religious and more Christlike, this appetizing luncheon occasionally was exchanged on the way for something eatable.
Although paid a stated and sufficient sum for his clothes, this enter- prising woman sent him out barefooted after snow fell, and his garments were so grotesquely ill-fitting and ragged that he became the laughing stock of the village school. These facts were given by Harvey Rice him- self to his children. It is to be regretted that the name of a woman, who could so shamefully abuse a motherless child, had not been furnished with the story. It would be just retribution.
Finally, Stephen Rice brought to Conway a second wife, a widow, who took charge of the boy, with ill grace, and thenceforth, from the age of 13 to 18, he lived in his father's home, but not of it. Then he started out to obtain an education and with rare courage and fortitude worked his way through Williams College.
The writer once boarded in a house where there were four students, seniors of a local college, and noticed that all four dreaded the coming month of June. Not because of the examinations and graduating themes, but they feared that so many years of academic and college life without manual training had unfitted them for anything but head labor, and if by chance, that failed them, there might be unaccustomed struggle and, perhaps, mortification to endure.
But long before Harvey Rice's diploma was handed to him he was sufficient unto himself. A boy who could master a Latin grammar in one month and make maple-sugar at the same time, had no reason to worry, even if he did start out hampered by four years' debt for college tuition.
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1824
WORLEY
An uncle had been living in Buffalo, N. Y., and to that city he bent his steps, hoping there to secure a school to teach, but upon reaching it, he learned that the uncle was dead, so pushed on to Cleveland. From the time he reached here, in 1824, until his death in 1891, at the age of 91, his life is closely associated with the history of the city, especially in its educational advance, its social reforms, and in everything that tended to elevate its standards of thinking and living.
In 1828 Mr. Rice married Fanny Rice, daughter of Truman Rice of Claredon, Vt., and sister-in-law of his law partner, Reuben Wood; al- though bearing the same name, they were not related. She was amiable, beautiful, and possessed of good common-sense; contented to begin wed- ded life in the simplest manner, so that when settled in their plain apart- ments, a happier couple never graced cottage or palace.
But in the year 1837, within a period of six weeks, Mr. Rice lost this loving wife and two children by death.
Her remaining children were:
Capt. Percy Rice, m. 1st, Mary Fanny Rice, m. Proctor Burnett.
Trigg; 2nd, Sarah Peck of Ver- She died in 1888, aged 55 years.
mont. He died in 1909.
Three years later, Harvey Rice married Mrs. Emma Fitch Woods, daughter of Col. James Fitch, of Putney, Vt. She was 18 years of age, and a widow. Had she lived one year longer, Mr. and Mrs. Rice would have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, which the family had anticipated with much pleasure.
She was a very lovable and exemplary woman, always had some kind word to say of every one. Her son-in-law, Mr. Hunt, who lived next door to her for 25 years, remarked of her that if she had any faults, he had yet to discover them.
The children by this second marriage were:
Henrietta Rice, m. James Irvine of San Francisco, Cal.
Emma Rice, m. Paul D. Condit of Cleveland.
Mary Rice, m. Edward P. Hunt.
She is a widow living on Euclid Ave., cor. E. 81st St.
James Rice, m. Cora Barlow. Harvey Rice.
1824
WORLEY
In 1824, Daniel Worley and his wife Eliza Tomlinson Worley started from Pittsburgh with a large party of relatives and friends on foot and in flat-boats to make the journey to Cleveland. It was made through a trackless wilderness, and they all suffered incredible hardship, so much
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1824
WORLEY
so, that when they reached the portage at Akron, where their poats had to be dragged miles on land in order to reach the Cuyahoga River, three of the party succumbed to deprivation and fatigue. They died and were buried there.
Cleveland was reached in May, 1824, and undoubtedly they received much sympathy and hospitality from the few kind-hearted families al- ready established here.
Mrs. Worley's brother, Andrew Tomlinson, accompanied her, and died years afterward, unmarried. The brother and sister were born in Maryland, and she was 27 years old when she came here, and had been married nine years. At least three of her oldest children must have been born in the east, and their tender years and helplessness doubtless added to the parents' distress in encountering the hardship and peril of the long journey. Mr. Daniel Worley seems to have been a man of force and action, for he immediately took his part in all the activities of the hamlet. And when it was made a city in 1836, he was chosen its first treasurer. He was a member of the first school board, and later, a city postmaster.
Mrs. Worley lived in Cleveland 45 years, and at her death in 1869 was one of the best known women in the city. She had eleven children, and some of them married into early Cleveland families.
Three years after her arrival, a little meeting of Methodists was held on St. Clair street, corner of Court Place, the narrow way leading from the Square to the street. It was at the residence of Rev. Joel Sizer, a local preacher who had lived in the town about a year. Here a class was formed of seven people, and two of them were Andrew Tomlinson and his sister, Eliza Worley. Years later, when subscriptions were being solicited and offered for the building of the Methodist church, corner of St. Clair and Wood streets, Mrs. Worley headed it with a silver dollar. Her memory is revered by the surviving members of that society, and at the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the old St. Clair Street Meth- odist Church, her name was frequently mentioned in loving remembrance.
It was said of her then that she had been a representative woman of the best circle of village society; that she was gifted intellectually and possessed rare facility of expression; that the young found her bright and sympathetic, the old a comfort and support, and that her manners were exceptionally fine. She was of the early style of Methodists, be- lieving in very simple style of dress. All jewelry, gay colors, and furbe- lows whatsoever were utterly tabooed. She dressed as do the Quakers in gray or steel color, and in her declining years wore kerchiefs and caps of the softest lace. A large portrait of her is treasured by her grandson Fank C. Worley.
The Worleys lived at the foot of Superior street and facing it, in a house built in 1803 by Amos Spafford, the site of the present Atwater Building. They then removed to Water street, and finally to a farm on Broadway.
The Worley children were:
Dr. Philip Worley, m. Justina James Worley.
John Worley, m. Caroline Norris of Burke.
275
1824
THOMAS
East Cleveland; 2nd, Margaret Cowin.
George Worley, died young.
Margaret Worley, m. a widower
Louisa Worley, m. George P. Bur- with children. He lived but a well, his 2nd wife. short time after.
Dr. Philip Worley lived in Newburgh after his marriage, and moved to Davenport, Iowa.
John had a wall-paper store at 16 Public Square, for many years. He died on Woodland Ave., No. 219, in a pleasant home, surrounded with flowers, and at the side a big grape-arbor, the delight of the Worley children and their playmates. The neighbors were the Swains, Cutlers, Deveraux, etc.
The children of John and Caroline Worley were: Frederick, Daniel, and Jane Worley. Those of the second wife Margaret Cowan were: Frank C., Newton J., Anna, Charlotte, and Burton Worley.
Louisa Worley Burwell was quite an invalid. She left no children.
1824
THOMAS
John Thomas was born in Massachusetts, but had been living in New York State for some years when he concluded to remove west. His wife previous to her marriage was Miss Lydia Smartey.
Mr. Thomas built a log-cabin in the midst of a forest in Newburgh in 1824 where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, each attaining a ripe old age, he dying at 82 years, and his wife at 90 years.
Mr. Thomas was 50 years old when their youngest child was born.
The children of John and Lydia Thomas :
Catherine Thomas, m. Mr. Wether- Jane A. Thomas.
bee. Charles Thomas.
Jemima Thomas, m. Mr. Edwards; William Thomas, m. Mary Coly. 2nd, Mr. Hester.
Patrick Thomas and Sally Thomas, his wife, are buried in the East Cleveland Cemetery. Both were over 80 years of age. No other record of this family.
276
1824
HILLIARD
For many years, beginning in the '20s and ending in the '50s, the most conspicuous object facing one walking down Superior street was the big sign of "Hilliard and Hayes." It was fastened to the front of a two-story frame-structure that stretched across the west end of the street, and which was later replaced by the Atwater Building.
The first name of the firm represented a well-known and active busi- ness man; the Hayes part of it always remained the name merely, the owner of it, a non-resident and living in New York City.
Richard Hilliard was a son of David Hilliard of Skeneatles, N. Y., who died, leaving a widow and several children without sufficient means to support them in the manner to which they had been accustomed. Richard was but a lad of 14 years of age and felt the situation keenly. At first, according to the custom of the times, a trade seemed the most prac- tical thing to acquire, and he tried to serve an apprenticeship with a hat- ter, but his proud spirit revolted against some of the menial tasks re- quired of him, and he broke away from the making of hats in order to sell them, in conjunction with many other things, in a general merchan- dise store.
He already had acquired some education, and in every leisure moment studied hard and fitted himself to teach a country school. How often afterward in his business career he must have smiled in recalling to mind his first great ambition, to teach a district school. But he found the sal- ary inadequate for the measure of assistance he wished to afford his mother and sisters, and so relinquished the educational profession for- ever.
About this time, Black Rock on the Niagara River rivalled Buffalo in its business enterprise, and seemed destined to be the place of import- ance at that end of the lake. Thither journeyed young Hilliard across the wilderness of western New York. The opening of the Erie Canal from Troy to Lake Erie may have been the incentive for this step. He entered the service of John Daly, a merchant of Black Rock, who was do- ing a fair amount of business in that town. It did not take the astute merchant long to discover the mental caliber of his youthful clerk, and to recognize in him a valuable asset if definitely retained, and shortly, with- out a cent of capital, Richard Hilliard was made one of the firm, and a branch store started in the distant village of Cleveland, with him as its manager.
This was in 1824, and three years later Daly withdrew and William Hayes, Mr. Hilliard's brother-in-law, succeeded him as a partner in the firm that became thenceforth "Hilliard and Hayes." The store was partially divided by a partition, one side used for dry-goods, the other given over entirely to groceries and vessel supplies. Its location was most favorable, for all travel to and from the river passed it, and the firm became very prosperous. Some time in the late '40s, it discarded the retail trade, erected a fine building on Water Street, and thenceforth carried on a large wholesale grocery business.
We find that, unlike some of his early business competitors, Mr. Hil- liard did not ignore his civic obligations, and in the various stages of Cleveland's growth and expansion gave time that to him must have been
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1824
HILLIARD
most valuable. For two years he was president of the village council, and one of the three aldermen in the first city government.
As a commissioner of water-works, trustee of Homeopathic college, and member of the first board of trade, he manifested an interest in every- thing that pertained to the growth and prosperity of the city.
Soon after Richard Hilliard's arrival in Cleveland he became be- trothed to Mary Merwin, the beautiful young daughter of Noble Mer- win, the pioneer. She died suddenly of quick consumption, shortly before her wedding-day. A year or two afterward, Mr. Hilliard returned from an eastern trip, accompanied by a charming bride, blonde and petite. She was Miss Sarah Catherine Hayes, a daughter of Newton Hayes, for- merly of St. Albans, Vt. Her mother was a member of the New England Wilcox family. Mrs. Hayes was warmly welcomed in the little village, and her sweet presence and winning manners soon endeared her to all who made her acquaintance. In time she became surrounded by a household of children, nine in all, and it would be needless to add that it claimed nearly all her time and limited strength, leaving very little of either for church or social affairs.
Older residents of the city yet living recall her in terms of great re- spect and affection, and much of their interest in the after life of the Hil- liard children was due to the memory of their gentle, refined mother, whom they lost when the younger of them needed her the most. She died on a steamboat while returning from the south where she had been seeking health, and was laid away in Erie Street Cemetery, in 1853. A beautiful portrait of Mrs. Richard Hilliard is in the possession of her youngest child, Miss Laura Hilliard of this city.
The family residence for many years was No. 52 St. Clair street, on the south side of it, near Water, now West 9th street. The family re- moved to the north side of the Public Square and lived for a time. Mr. Hilliard then built a mansion on St. Clair street, corner of Bond, now East 6th street. It created such interest at the time because of its new departure in Cleveland architecture, and the beauty and costliness of its interior finish. Mrs. Hilliard's death occurred before the house was com- pleted, and as Mr. Hilliard followed her within three years, the family did not reside in it for any length of time. It was the home of Governor David Todd for some years and was the scene of many brilliant social events. In later years, it came into the possession of the Grasselli fam- ily. At the present day, it is the headquarters of the Associated Chari- ties. The flotsam and jetsam of a great city enter through the portals that once opened only to the successful and prosperous, while day after day up and down the beautiful staircase with its mahogany panels on one side and heavily carved balustrade on the other pass weary, halting feet where, long ago, beautiful gowns trailed their length and dainty slippers trod.
Richard Hilliard died in 1856 from the effects of a sudden and severe cold, contracted while on a business trip to New York. He was a typical merchant of the old school, reserved, methodical, exact. Pictures and de- scriptions of him portray a fine-looking man, with straight features and dark hair and eyes.
278
1825
POPULATION, 500
The Hilliard children were each interesting in its way, but unlike in physique and temperament. They were:
Mary Hilliard, m. Dr. Elisha Ster- ling, son of John W. Sterling.
Catherine Hilliard, m. Henry W. Gaylord, son of Erastus Gaylord. Julia Hilliard, m. Miller of Buffalo, N. Y.
Richard Hilliard, m. Evelyn Sizer of Buffalo.
Newton Hilliard, m. Mary J. Hul- bert, dau. of Aaron Hulbert of Cleveland.
William Hilliard, m. Eleanor - Laura Hilliard.
Betsey Matilda and Charles Augus- tus Hilliard, died in infancy.
Mrs. Mary Sterling and Mrs. Catherine Gaylord were life-time resi- dents of the city. The three sons lived elsewhere most of their lives, and died before middle age.
Miss Laura Hilliard, the youngest child of the family, still remains.
1825
POPULATION, 500
Postmaster, Irad Kelly. Trustees, A. Abel, Samuel William- Collector of Customs, Ashbel W. son, Horace Perry. Walworth. Marshal, Harvey H. Wellman.
President, Eleazar Waterman.
COUNTY OFFICERS
Clerk of Common Pleas, Horace Perry.
Treasurer, Daniel Kelly.
Recorder, Horace Perry.
Prosecuting Attorney, Leonard Auditor, John W. Willey. Case. Sheriff, James S. Clark.
1825
RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. MARY LONG SEVERANCE BEGINNING ABOUT 1820
REFERENCES TO ACCOMPANYING MAP OF SUPERIOR STREET
(1) On this corner there has been a tavern or hotel from my earliest remembrance. The house has been built over and over. Back of it, to the south-west corner of the Square, was a large yard where caravans put up, and where horses and cattle in transfer were kept. The only build- ing between Mowry's Tavern and Seneca street was a large, frame- storehouse built by the Murray brothers, many years previous.
279
Public Square.
1st House Herschell Foote. Book Store I. 2nd Deacon Rouse.
I.
1
Mowray's Tavern.
Store built by Eleas & Harvey Murray.
First Cleveland Newspaper printed on site Champion Houses
II.
of middle house.
Burrough's Blacksmith Shop and Residence.
III.
Seneca
Street
2
Dr. David Long after 1831.
3
Abram Hickox's blacksmith shop
4
Jonathan Bliss.
5
Hiram Wellman.
6 Dudley's Dry-goods Store.
7
William Bliss-Goldsmith (In house
8
later kept by T. P. May.
Stiles' Cabin.
Bank.
9
Duckworth's Drug Store.
Bank Street
11
Ashbel Walworth.
P. M. Weddell's store and house.
VII.
.
Dr. Long's house, brick, left in 1830.
VII2
Log house built by George Hunt- ington, where M. H. Long was born,
VIII
14
Office or Store kept by Dr. D. Long.
Philo Scovill's Hotel "Franklin."
IX.
15
Moses White (Tailor).
16
Ben Tuell's Silver-smith.
Cutter & Keise Store.
IX3
17
Rouse book store and dwelling.
Later Nathan Perry's House
18
William Stockwell.
House
X.
19
Silas Walsworth Hatter.
Nathan Perry's Store
20
Merwin Tavern
.
Water
Street
Carter's Tavern
280
Superior Street
10
Irad Kelley House, Store & P. O.
12
Custom House or Office.
13
Levi Johnson's House.
VI
Leonard Case.
V.
Elisha Taylor's House and Store
Spangler's Tavern, built by George Wallace.
IV
1825
RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. MARY LONG SEVERANCE
(2) This corner of Superior and Seneca streets was a vacant lot belonging to my father, Dr. David Long, upon which he built a stone dwelling in 1831. After Dr. Long removed out on Woodland Avenue, Sheldon Pease occupied it for some years.
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