USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 32
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Augustus Barnett, the eldest son, married Martha Carleton. He re- moved to Wisconsin, and afterward to California, where he engaged in the leather business.
Gen. James Barnett married Maria Underhill, adopted daughter of Dr. Samuel Underhill, a pioneer physician. For over half a century, Mrs. James Barnett was the faithful, congenial companion of the hus- band of her youth, and only within a few years passed away.
The children of Gen. James and Maria Underhill Barnett were:
Mary Barnett, m. Thomas Goodwille. Caroline Maria Barnett, m. Alexan- Laura Barnett, m. Charles Sheffield. der E. Brown.
Gen. James Barnett lived to an advanced age in his home, 2435 Euclid Ave. From boyhood, when he joined the voluntary fire department, un- til his death, he gave steadily to the city loyal and honest effort. He probably filled more offices and positions of trust than any other citizen of this commonwealth, and his record as a soldier of the Civil War, and his military services rendered to the city are part of its local history, of which it is justly proud.
A nephew of Melancthon Barnett, Martin L., son of Samuel Barnett, lived in the city at 76 Bank Street, in 1837. He was a book-keeper for Ross and Lemen.
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DUTY
Daniel and Andrew Duty were the sons of Ebenezer and Abigail Warren Duty of Ackworth, N. H., who settled in New York State, and again removed, that time in 1808, to Ashtabula Harbor, O., and 11 years later went to Painesville. Here soon afterward Mrs. Duty died, leaving a family of young children. The hardships and deprivation of pioneer life had proven too severe, for this was as early as 1820. She was a sister of Moses Warren of Warrensville, O.
Daniel Duty learned the cabinet-making trade of Milo Harris of Painesville, and after serving his four years' apprenticeship came to Cleveland at the age of 21 and hired to Ashael Abel as a journeyman. Abel made and sold furniture on Water Street. Soon after he took young Duty into partnership, one that continued several years. Trade was ex- ceedingly slow in those days, sales far apart.
One day a stranger entered the shop and bought a hundred dollars' worth of the best furniture in stock, and paid for it in cash. Messrs. Abel & Duty were amazed at this astonishing piece of good fortune. They feared that the money could not be genuine, and Mr. Abel rushed out to satisfy himself regarding it.
Mr. Abel finally sold out his share in the business and moved out of town. Elisha Gardner became a member of the firm.
Mr. Duty's residence and shop was at 59 and 63 Water Street. The dwelling was north of the shop and the wide space between them was used by Mrs. Duty as a flower-garden where flourished and flaunted all the old-fashioned flowers so dear to our grandmothers.
Mrs. Duty's maiden name was Emmeline Mason. She had been early left an orphan and came with relatives to Ohio from New York State. She was never strong and during the latter part of her life was a semi- invalid. But she possessed indomitable spirit, and was very ambitious for her children's education. Her daughters attended an eastern school and one of them taught many years.
The children of Daniel and Emmeline Mason Duty:
William Duty, unmarried.
John Duty, unmarried.
Frances Jennie Duty, a well-known temperance worker.
Andrew Duty, m. Julia Stock of England.
Mary E. Duty, the oldest daughter, m. Platt R. Spencer.
Charlotte Duty.
The family burial lot was in Erie Street Cemetery.
1830
DUTY
Andrew Duty, Sr., came to this city five years later than his brother Daniel, and settled in the East End on a farm afterward known as the "Streator" farm. He ran a large brickyard for many years. His wife was Miss Elisabeth Havens of Oneida Co., N. Y.
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1825
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This Duty family consisted of three sons :
Edwin Duty, b. 1830. He married Naomi Meeker, daughter of Ste- phen Meeker. She died in 1860, leaving two young children. He married 2nd, Elisabeth Salter, daughter of Richard Salter of Co-
lumbus. His widow and daugh- ter reside on Knowles St.
Daniel Duty, m. Sarah Cozad, of the pioneer family of that name. Andrew Duty, Jr., m. Elisabeth Sal- ter, niece of Mr. Edwin Duty.
Data of the Andrew Duty, Sr., family was only partially secured.
1825
ALLEN
John W. Allen came to the village from Litchfield, Conn., in 1825. His father, also John Allen, was a lawyer, poet, and a Connecticut con- gressman. On account of his height, and perhaps to differentiate him from other Allens of the same family, he was designated as "Long John Allen." He died at 42 years of age, and when his son John was but a lad of ten years. His wife was Ursula McCurdy, and related by blood and connection with many noted New England families. Her death fol- lowed closely that of her husband, so that John was an orphan at the age of seventeen.
The fame of Judge Samuel Cowles as a jurist must have reached Con- necticut, for John W. Allen chose to come to Cleveland and study law under him than acquire the same knowledge nearer home. Upon fin- ishing the study previous to the examination, he became a member of the Cleveland bar, and within five years was president of the village council, and the last one to hold that position. In turn he was Mayor and post- master of the city, state senator, congressional representative, banker, railroad director, and filled other positions of civic and commercial trust. With it all, he was ever the city's most unselfish champion and promoter.
A fine portrait of him is in the possession of his only daughter, Mrs. Louise Allen Fuller. The face is a noble one, full of refinement and dig- nity. Like most men of good family, he was simple-mannered, and no one, even the humblest stranger, left his presence with a sense of unmer- ited humiliation.
Soon after entering the bar, he rode away, one day, to Warren, Ohio, and returned with a bride, Anna Maria, the young daughter of Gen. Sim- eon Perkins. His domestic happiness, however, was of short duration, for she died within three months'time.
He married secondly, Harriet E. Mather, the 18-year-old daughter of James Mather of Lyme, Conn. She was his cousin, once removed, a de- scendant of Rev. Cotton Mather, and a relative of the late Samuel L. Mather of this city.
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1825
ALLEN
The Allen residence faced the north-east section of the Public Square and stood on the site of the present chamber of commerce. The lot took in the alley now opened for a passage-way, and extended through to St. Clair Street. There were but four houses on that part of the Square. Charles M. Giddings' stone residence, afterward occupied by N. E. Crit- tenden, now the site of the Citizens' Savings Bank, was on one corner, the Allen home on the other, and between them were the residences of James F. Clark and John Irwin.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen were of the earliest members of Trinity Church. Their children were:
James Allen, unmarried. His son Clarence Gale Allen lives in that city.
William Allen, m. Miss Clara Gale. Was in the Civil War, and died soon after in Washington, D. C. U. S. A .; 2nd, S. A. Fuller.
Louise Allen, m. Dr. George Wood,
Mrs. Fuller is an accomplished musician, and for many years she has been the organist of Euclid Ave. Presbyterian Church.
John W. Allen lived much in Washington, D. C., in the latter years of his life. Mrs. Allen died in 1887, and four weeks after he followed her to the Better Land.
1826
The county commissioners voted to build a new courthouse of brick, two stories high, with a cupola and a bell, costing $8000. George G. Hills, a well-known carpenter and contractor of the village, was the builder. It stood on the south-west corner of the Square.
Upon the front steps of this public edifice stood many an orator of national or local fame, haranguing the crowds that gathered on the Pub- lic Square; for this spot became a favorite place for holding political meetings, and many a debate was held here.
Euclid Avenue was too wet and muddy beyond Willson for ordinary travel. It led through a swamp. A corduroy road had to be built in order that teams might drive through there.
PASTORS OF OLD STONE CHURCH
Rev. William McLane, 1822 to 1828.
"Married-March, 1821, Rev. Wm. McLane of Newburgh, O., and Abigail Clark."
Rev. Stephen Ingalls Bradstreet, 1828 to 1830.
Rev. Samuel Hutchings, 1830 to 1833.
Rev. John Keep, 1833 to 1835.
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1826
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Rev. Samuel C. Aiken, 1835.
The Rev. William McLane came from Meadville, Pa. He was a friend of the first Judge Samuel Williamson, who secured him as teacher in the old Academy on St. Clair street. Whenever a thunder-storm was raging, he is said to have secured perfect quiet in the school-room by raising his hands, and, in a voice of awful solemnity, exclaiming,
"Silence! This is the voice of God."
The subsequent history of this first pastor of the Old Stone Church has not been secured. This is regrettable, as the lives of all succeeding ones will be found in this historical work.
1826
CRITTENDEN
The once well-known and prominent Crittenden families of Cleveland were of Dutch ancestry, the first one coming to this country being Abra- ham Crittenden, born in Holland. The Cleveland posterity, Newton E. and Joseph H., were the sons of Chester and Azuba Abbott Crittenden of Conway, Mass., who were married in that town in 1801. They had six sons and two daughters, namely: Newton E., Joseph H., Charles C., Allen K., Nash A., Adelia A., Feleria A., and Franklin C. Crittenden. The father of this family died in 1825. The mother, who was a daugh- ter of Joshua Abbott of Conway, Mass., died in Pittsfield, Mich., aged ninety years, having outlived her husband about half a century.
There had been no lack of a certain style of jewelry among the early settlers of Cleveland. Indian brooches, for instance, could be bought for a song. They were large, flat ornaments with an outer rim of silver, or what passed for such, which the government furnished its primitive wards along with the blankets distributed annually, and both of these were exchanged with settlers and traders for some more coveted article, usually whiskey; and occasionally the pack of some peddler from Pitts- burgh way would contain articles of cheap jewelry more or less in demand.
But in the fall of 1826, a young man appeared quietly upon the scene, secured a little building on the north side of Superior street near Water, and spread before the eyes of the small community such a display of watches, chains, breastpins and finger-rings as to dazzle the eyes of all beholders. In six months the stock, costing $500 and obtained on credit, was all sold out, and the enterprising young man started back east for more goods and a promised bride.
Newton E. Crittenden was born in Conway, Mass., and was twenty- two years old when he made his Cleveland venture. According to the custom of those days, he was bound out to a jeweler in Geneva, N. Y., and when released with a trade, he took a clerkship in Albany. There he met Miss Maria Ogden, a dark-eyed, dark-haired lady, daughter of
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Nathaniel Ogden, who had been an officer on General Washington's staff and was said to have sacrificed much of his private fortune for the patriotic cause. His wife was a member of a well-known Knickerbocker family of Albany.
N. E. Crittenden's young bride turned her back on all the comforts and social pleasures of the old Dutch city, and bravely set out to travel by canal-boat and stage-coach to share her husband's fortunes in the little western town. Unfortunately, she reached here in one of the most de- pressing years of its history, the one following the opening of the canal, when nearly every member of the community was ill and there were scarcely enough well people to care for the sick and to bury the dead. Out of a population of five hundred there were seventeen deaths within two months, and it must have tested her courage to the uttermost to begin her newly married life in a strange town under such circumstances.
Mr. Crittenden did not have to depend for business upon the local patronage. There was scarcely a day that Superior street was not filled with big wagons, drawn by two, four, or six horses, that had come from the interior of the state, filled with grain to be shipped at this port, and that brought many strangers to the town who usually had money in their pockets, and with part of it bore away to wife or sweetheart some pretty trifle from the jewelry store.
Seven years after their arrival, Mr. Crittenden was able to build a combined store and dwelling at 29 Superior street. The store part had a big window filling nearly the front, which was much admired. More than that, Mrs. Crittenden had on her front door, not a knocker to call her attention to your presence there, but a knob which you pulled gently out, not too far nor too quickly, lest it break, and, should you listen closely, you might hear the far-away tinkle of a bell. Doubtless, Mrs. Crittenden had an unusual number of callers while CLEVELAND'S FIRST DOOR-BELL continued to be a wonder and a curiosity.
The disastrous panic of 1837 caught Mr. Crittenden with a big stock of goods impossible to dispose of. They had been bought mostly on credit, and for years he staggered under the load of this debt. But at last every dollar of it was paid. This established his commercial standing, enabled him to secure unlimited credit, and to give Cleveland the finest jewelry store west of New York. For nearly sixty years "CRITTENDEN'S" seemed as firmly located as Superior street itself. But in 1872 its founder died, and Mrs. Crittenden ably continued the business until her own death ten years later.
She was one of the best-known women in the city, having spent the most of her life here, and having an intimate friendship and acquaint- ance with the first settlers, and probably in the first years of her sojourn in Cleveland having known every adult in town and most of the children. The family removed from Superior street to the renowned Giddings house on the corner of Rockwell and Ontario streets. It was a sub- stantial stone residence facing the Public Square, and when built was considered a fine mansion and a great adjunct to the dignity of the Square.
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1826
FITCH
Children of Newton E. and Maria Crittenden :
Helen Ogden Crittenden, married Allan Richmond.
Ogden Crittenden, married Virginia Morse, and 2nd, Fanny Morse, daughters of T. W. and Sarah Paff Morse of this city.
Alice Crittenden, married Edward Main.
Newton Crittenden, married Kate Webber of Nashville, Tenn. He died in 1878, aged thirty-eight.
Helen Crittenden was a lovely woman, and possessed a brilliant in- tellect. She was an invalid for many years and died only recently, the last member of her father's family. Alice Crittenden was left a widow. She had been living east for some years. Soon after her return, and while residing at a fashionable boarding-house on Superior street near Erie she was found, one morning, dead in bed. She left no children.
1826
FITCH
Gurdon Fitch of Lebanon, Conn., son of James Fitch, married Han- nah B. Peck of Franklin, Conn., about 1815, and after their first child was born, they removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y.
Gurdon, the Christian name of Mr. Fitch, would indicate a New Lon- don, or a Norwich, Conn., ancestry, as Gurdon Saltonstall, a governor of Connecticut, was responsible for the naming of many boys born in that vicinity in the latter part of the 18th century.
The Rev. James Fitch was one of the founders of Norwich, and the first minister of the gospel in that town, and his son, Rev. James Fitch, Jr., was one of the founders of Yale College, and donated to it 637 acres of land.
In 1826, Gurdon Fitch, aged 40, with his wife and five children re- moved to Cleveland, and lived for many years on the corner of Water and St. Clair streets, where Mr. Fitch kept a village tavern. He was a valua- ble member of the community, a justice of the peace, and active in the organization of Cleveland as a city in 1836.
Mrs. Fitch was the daughter of Darius and Hannah Warner Peck of Franklin, Conn. She was a typical New England woman of that day, strong, self-reliant, and always a helpmate for her husband in his busi- ness, and a wise, conscientious mother to her family of unusually bright children. She probably was responsible for the exceptional advantages of education given to them, and she lived to see her two sons rank high in their chosen profession, and one of her daughters occupy a unique position in the philanthropic work of the city.
The family moved from the Water street tavern before 1836 to the east side of Ontario, corner of Hamilton Street, where Mr. Fitch died of consumption in 1830, aged 54 years. It continued to be the home of his
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1826
FITCH
widow until her death in 1874 at the advanced age of 87. Silas Belden was appointed administrator of the Gurdon Fitch estate in 1841.
Children of Gurdon and Hannah Peck Fitch:
Abby Mason Fitch, b. 1817; m. Jabez Warner Fitch, b. 1823; m. Francis Babbit. Mary J. Dolman.
Sarah Fitch, b. 1819; died 1893.
Jane Fitch, b. 1827; died 1873.
James Fitch, b. 1821; m. Elisabeth Sanburn.
Abby, a maiden sister of Gurdon Fitch, resided with the family and died here very aged.
Sarah Elisabeth Fitch was a prominent and beloved figure in the re- ligious and philanthropic element of Cleveland for many long years. Perhaps no other woman of the city ever filled just the niche she occu- pied. Remaining unmarried she had freedom to give her time and serv- ices to every cause that demanded them, and her whole life was spent in maturing plans of benevolence and in seeing them executed.
From 1840 to 1856 she taught in the private school held in the Huron Street Academy. Upon the pupils of which her sincere, loving charac- ter made life-long impressions. As womanhood developed she gave more and more of herself to personal ministrations among the poor. She was especially tender to those who had sinned, and it was mainly through her efforts that the "Retreat" for erring women was established. She assisted in the formation of the Woman's Christian Association, and was its first president, continuing in that office until her death. For some years of her later life she was the recognized pastor's assistant of the Old Stone Church.
"Cast in a grand mould her image is set up in many a heart a per- petual type of lofty womanhood."
James Fitch was educated in the Cleveland Public schools, Colches- ter, Conn., Academy, and in Yale University, from which he graduated in 1847. For two years he studied law in Philadelphia, and then returned to Cleveland and became associated with the prominent firm of Hitchcock, Wilson & Wade; afterward he was in partnership with Leonard Case. He was a man of upright character, one who could be completely trusted by his clients, and led a quiet, blameless life. He had a family of seven children. His residence during his later years was on East Madison Ave., now East 79th street, where he died in 1903, aged 82 years.
Mrs. James Fitch was the niece of the second Mrs. P. M. Weddell. She was a woman who had made her home dear to her family through personal and loving ministrations. Gentle and lady-like in her deport- ment, no one could imagine Mrs. James Fitch saying an unkind word or doing an unkind act. She resided before her marriage with her aunt, Mrs. Weddell, and her personality was quite like that dear lady in many respects.
Gen. Jabez Fitch was also a lawyer, but acquired his legal lore as a student with Kelly & Bolton.
The brothers were quite unlike; James led a quiet, office life, while
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1826
DOCKSTADER
Jabez was always active in military affairs and in politics. The latter was a chief of one of the old, volunteer fire companies, United States marshal in 1848, city solicitor, and a citizen to whom the public turned in any emergency for assistance or advice. He made a patriotic speech at the great mass-meeting held immediately after President Lincoln's first call for troops. He was an honored member of "The Ark," and one of those to whom Mr. Case left it and its contents. He was the first state president of the Humane Society, which indicates his kind heart, and in 1875 he was lieutenant-governor of the State of Ohio, with Gov- ernor Bishop.
He accumulated considerable property through transactions in real- estate, to which he gave his attention in later life.
Mrs. Jabez Fitch died in 1874, leaving no children, and Mr. Fitch re- mained a widower until his own death ten years later.
The Fitch family was buried in Erie Street Cemetery.
In 1834 a Miss Emma Maria Fitch was married in Trinity Church to Geo. C. Woods.
1826
DOCKSTADER
About this time, either together or following each other at short inter- vals, came the Dockstader brothers, Nicholas, Richard, and Butler, and until after the close of that century, the name was familiar in business marts and social circles of the city. They, and their children, married into families of long-established repute, and no one with any knowledge at that time of the people involved, could dream that the day would come, and not a far distant one at that, when the names of Dockstader, Starkweather, May, Norton, Parsons, etc., would be only a remembrance.
The Dockstaders were of Dutch ancestry, and born in Albany, New York. They were the sons of Jacob and Angelica Hanson Dockstader, who had a family of four sons and an equal number of daughters. Two of the latter, Mary and Katharine, lived here or made frequent visits to the city. Angelica Dockstader, the mother, died in Cleveland in 1840, aged 69, and was buried in Erie St. Cemetery.
Nicholas Dockstader was born in 1802, and came to Cleveland when he was but 24 years of age. He started a small hat and cap store, and in 1837 his stand was at number 13 Superior Street. He also dealt in furs, a valuable business in that early day. The Indians were yet numer- ous in the vicinity, and one could scarcely look out of door or window on Superior street without seeing them passing laden with skins or ani- mals they had trapped, and on their way to some Cleveland merchant to barter for merchandise. And as Nicholas Dockstader made a specialty of buying furs, he probably had a goodly share of the business.
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1826
DOCKSTADER
It is said that he was a man of sterling character, strict business principles, and clean, personal habits. He was mayor of the city in 1840, retired from business in 1858, and died in 1871, 69 years of age. He met Miss Harriet Judd, who was visiting her sister, Mrs. T. P. May of. this city, and it resulted in the marriage of the young people. They probably lived at first in the building Mr. Dockstader used as a store. Business and household were usually under one roof in the '20s. But in later years their home was on the north side of St. Clair street, number 97.
Here they raised their family of children, and here for many years they welcomed relatives and friends.
The children of Nicholas and Harriet Judd Dockstader:
William Dockstader, m. Helen Lee. He lived and died in Washington, D. C. His widow remarried.
Richard Dockstader, m. Eleanor Wooley. He was a soldier of the Civil War.
Charles Dockstader, in late life, m. Emma Paddock. Died in Los An- geles, California.
Julia Dockstader, m. James B. Car- ruch of Auburn, N. Y.
Elisabeth Dockstader, never mar- ried, and outlived all her family. She was much esteemed by a large
circle of old family friends, and won the regard of later acquaint- ances by her sterling qualities. Her untiring energies used for the church of her faith, the Second Presbyterian, did not cease until her death which was somewhat sudden. Her brother Charles also was affiliated with this church many years. He was an early member of its choir. His long life was spent in one of the city banks as cashier or teller.
RICHARD DOCKSTADER
Richard Dockstader, brother of Nicholas, was also a hatter and fur- dealer. He married Miss Mary Comer, an English girl of aristocratic lineage. She was related to Sir Joshua Reynolds the famous artist. With her sisters she had traveled extensively, and had many unusual opportuni- ties in the way of education and culture. Her life in Cleveland, after her marriage, must have been severe for one so delicately nurtured, and she died early, leaving her three children motherless.
Children of Richard and Mary Dockstader :
Charles Richard Dockstader, who was a wanderer, very musical and the founder of the "Dockstader Negro Minstrels," which became very popular all over the country. He died, and his partner contin- ued the business for himself un- der the same name for many years afterward, thereby reaping a rich harvest, which was not
shared with the Dockstader or- phans.
Annie Dockstader lived with her aunt, Leah Comer Mitchell, after her mother's death.
Mary Katharine Dockstader, or "Kittie," as she was called, found a home with Mr. and Mrs. George Burwell, who cared for her as ten- derly as if their own child.
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1826
GIDDINGS
Richard Dockstader's place of business was at 21 Superior street, and he was in partnership with Andrew Tomlinson, an uncle of Mrs. George Burwell. Mr. Dockstader lived, at one time, on St. Clair street near Erie, and again at number 118 Ontario street, which must have been south of the Public Square.
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