USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 33
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All branches of the Dockstader family were musical.
W. BUTLER DOCKSTADER
W. Butler Dockstader's name may have been Walter Butler, and if so, it would appear that the family had been Tories during the Revolu- tion. The celebrated Tory of that name had many admirers among those who sympathized with the mother country during our struggle for free- dom, and numerous children were named for him. Considering his dread- ful record for cruelties practised upon helpless women and children in the Wyoming Valley, and in western New York, it seems passing strange that even an adherent of the other side of the conflict could saddle their child with such a name. Surely, it should bring anything but good luck to its possessor.
Butler Dockstader married Harriet Norton, daughter of Elisha and Margaret Clark Norton, and granddaughter of David and Margaret Clark. Her father had been dead many years, and her mother died in 1843. There were two children born to Butler and Harriet Dockstader that lived, George and Fanny Dockstader. Butler died, and Harriet Nor- ton Dockstader married 2nd, Edward Wetmore.
Mary Dockstader, sister of Nicholas, Richard and Butler Dockstader, married Samuel Potts of Ontario, Canada, and her daughter became the wife of Miller M. Spangler of Cleveland. Another sister, Katherine Dockstader, became a widow three times through successive marriages.
1826 GIDDINGS
The index of any history of a city is usually crowded with references to men in no wise worthy of the prominence given their names; men who always militated against the best interests of the community for their own selfish purposes. On the other hand, broad-minded, public-spirited citizens of their day, and deserving of the highest encomiums, receive mere mention or none at all. This tendency to dwell upon the services of the former class of men and ignore those of the latter is noticeable in all histories of early Cleveland. But that is natural and inevitable. Men who accumulated property usually became connected with banking, mercantile, and railroad interests which constantly brought their names before the eyes of the public.
An illustration of the above-mentioned injustice, doubtless quite un-
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intentional, is that of C. M. Giddings, a pioneer merchant and long a prominent and very popular citizen of Cleveland, who became identified with it when its population was less than 500. Giddings is derived from Gideon, and in Hebrew signifies "A brave soldier." Charles Mattoon Giddings was of the eighth generation in descent from George and Jane Tuttle Giddings of England, who in 1635 settled in the town of Ipswich, Mass., about 25 miles from Boston. His father was Sereno Giddings of Lenox, Mass., formerly of Lyme, Conn. His mother was Esther Mattoon Giddings. Charles was the first-born of his parents, and the only other child of the family was a daughter who became Mrs. Myra Gleason of Syracuse, N. Y.
Mr. Giddings was in Cleveland at the formal opening of the Ohio Canal, and in the festivities of that occasion was one of the floor man- agers at the ball given in the Mansion House, which stood at the foot of Superior street. That same year, 1827, he married Eliza Smyth, daugh- ter of Richard and Prudence Smyth of Detroit, Mich. She was a sister of William Smyth of "Smyth and Clary," produce merchants, of Mrs. Noble Merwin, and of Mrs. Wilson, wife of Judge Hiram Wilson. The widowed mother of this brother and three sisters died in this town and was buried in Erie Street Cemetery.
Mr. Giddings was connected in business with Norman C. Baldwin under the firm name of "Giddings and Baldwin," merchants. He served the city in many ways, not as an office-holder on a salary and many per- quisites, but as a private citizen, loyal to the home of his adoption. He assisted in laying out many new streets, and his advice or counsel on im- portant municipal affairs was often sought and freely given.
Some time in the '30s, he built a large stone residence on the corner of Ontario street and the Public Square, the first stone house erected in this locality. The Society for Savings now occupies the site. James F. Clark built a home close by to the east of the Giddings residence, and beyond that lived John W. Allen. The charming and accomplished wife of Mr. Giddings presided in the new stone residence with liberal hospi- tality. She entertained not only the social element of the city, but guests from all over northern Ohio, and often from eastern cities. In front of this house Mr. Giddings presented to the Cleveland Grays its first color standard.
In one of the financial panics that swept the city Mr. Giddings lost heavily. He retired to a farm on Euclid Ave. outside the town limits. There was much sympathy expressed for him in his business troubles, and considerable indignation over the advantage taken of them. His beautiful home was sold at a ruinous sacrifice in order to propitiate an exacting creditor.
Giddings Ave. was the once familiar name of an East End street, but now numbered East 71st. The man for whom it was named died in 1853, at the age of 56, after a residence in the city of 27 years. Mrs. Giddings died in 1886.
Sereno and Esther Giddings, parents of C. M. Giddings, spent the last years of their lives with their son, and are both buried beside him in Erie Street Cemetery. The family name on the stone erected over the grave is spelled with only one "d"-"Gidings."
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nd ge ar n
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ADAMS
Joshua Adams, his wife, and three little sons, the youngest an infant, left their home in West Tilsbury, Martha's Vineyard, in time to reach Cleveland in September, 1826. Mr. Adams was the son of James and Dinah Allen Adams. The latter was descended from George Allen who settled in Sandwich, Mass., in 1635, and the former was in direct line from Gov. Mayhew of Massachusetts, as well as from Henry Adams of Braintree, Mass., 1632.
Joshua Adams bought a farm on Aetna street, known as the "Bald- win property." It was about four miles from the Public Square, and on it was a good log-house and an abundance of fruit-trees, apple, peach, and quince. Tradition held that its former occupant was a bachelor from the east who built the house and set out the trees previous to the arrival of the Baldwins. Six years after their arrival in Newburgh, in 1832, Mr. Adams died of cholera, and his wife was left with a family of little children, four more having been born in Newburgh.
Mrs. Joshua Adams, Adeline Athearn, was the daughter of George and Hepsibah Hussey Athearn. She was born in 1799, and had she lived but six years more would have been 100 years old at the time of her death. She was an intelligent woman, a constant reader until blindness prevented. She was of a cheerful disposition, and like all pioneer wives and mothers, with few exceptions, she was self-sacrificing to a degree. In 1836, she married Moses Jewett of Cleveland and New- burgh, a prominent citizen whose wife Eunice Andrews Jewett had died leaving him with seven children. These, together with the Adams chil- dren of the same number, must have made a family that was no small task to care for. She had two Jewett children of her own, Avis Jewett, born in 1837, and Emily Jewett, in 1839, but both died young.
The children of Joshua and Adeline Adams:
George A. Adams, b. 1821; m. 1st, Emily Higgins; 2nd, Miss Dost- ing.
James Adams, b. 1823 ; m. Catherine Simmons.
Joshua Adams, b. 1826; unmarried. Adeline Adams, b. 1827; m. Charles P. Jewett, her step-brother.
Cyrus Adams, b. 1829; m. 1st, Elis- abeth Burgess; 2nd, Clara Bur- gess.
Frank Adams, b. 1830; m. Maria Spear.
Allen Mayhew Adams, b. 1832; m. Elisabeth B. Jones.
1826
SAYLE
The Rev. John Sayle was a distinguished clergyman who was famous throughout the Isle of Man for his eloquence and scholarship. He trans- lated much of the Bible into the Manx language. When nearing his sev- entieth year of life he came with his wife, Catherine Kinley Sayle, to Ohio. They were of a party of emigrants from, or near Douglas, Isle of
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Man, who settled in Newburgh on Union street, or in Warrensville, just over the Newburgh line.
The Rev. John Sayle lived but six years after his arrival here. He fell a victim to the cholera epidemic of 1832. His wife survived him 26 years, and died at the advanced age of 98.
Children of John and Catherine Sayle:
Ann Sayle, m. William Watterson. Thomas Sayle, removed to North- field, O.
John Sayle, d. unmarried.
1826
WATTERSON
William Watterson and Ann Sayle, daughter of Rev. John and Cath- erine Kinley Sayle, were married in Douglas, Isle of Man, and immedi- ately after the ceremony accompanied a party of Manx men who, in 1826, emigrated to Newburgh and Warrensville. With them came Mrs. Watterson's aged parents. The journey was often delayed and very tedious, taking nearly three months to accomplish.
Mr. Watterson settled on a farm of 80 acres. His first son was the second child born in the Manx settlement. The Watterson family num- bered ten sons and a daughter. Three of the former served throughout the Civil War, one losing his life in action, the other two badly wounded. Three of the family graduated at Western Reserve College, one of them at the head of his class.
The record of these sons not only indicates the high mentality of the parents, but also heroic self-sacrifice, without which the liberal educa- tion of their children could not have been accomplished.
Mrs. Watterson was an ideal mother. M. G. Watterson, the sole sur- vivor of the family, says that without exception she was the tenderest- hearted woman he ever knew; tender, not only to her own children, but to all who needed affection and sympathy.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Watterson died within a few weeks of their eighti- eth birthdays, and only eight days apart. They rest in Woodland Ceme- tery.
Children of William and Ann Watterson :
John J. Watterson, m. Margaret Crennell.
William J. Watterson, m. Sarah Ruggles.
Sarah Watterson, m. Perry Payne. Harrison Dunton Watterson, m. Elisabeth Akers of England. 313
Moses G. Watterson, m. Helen Far- rand. The latter was a graduate of Western Reserve College; was county treasurer for six years, and president of the Board of Ed- ucation, four years. In the latter part of his business life he was president of a bank.
1826
FREEMAN
Henry Watterson, died of typhoid fever when about 30 years of age, a graduate of Western Reserve College.
Edward Watterson, m. Mary Pren- tice (dau. of Squire Prentice), a graduate of Western Reserve Col- lege.
Julius C. Watterson, killed at New Hope Place in an engagement of
the Civil War. His body was never recovered.
Robert Watterson, m. Caroline Nor- ton, sister of David Z. Norton, the Cleveland banker. He was wound- ed at the Battle of Stone River in the Civil War.
Charles Watterson, died in his '20s, a fine fellow whose loss left his family inconsolable.
1826
FREEMAN
Much local interest centers in the Rev. Silas C. Freeman for sev- eral reasons. First, he was virtually the first rector of Old Trinity Church, 1826-1830. The Rev. Roger Searl had officiated at long intervals as a missionary clergyman, his charges were scattered over northern Ohio, and seldom could he get back to Cleveland and visit the little church society of less than 20 communicants.
Second .- For nearly five years all the services of the church, mostly conducted by lay-readers, had been held in the private residences of Phineas Shepard and Josiah Barber across the river in Ohio City, West Side. Simultaneously with the arrival of an established rector, the serv- ices were henceforth held in the small courthouse on the north-west cor- ner of the Public Square.
Third .- It was through the efforts of the Rev. S. C. Freeman that Old Trinity's first edifice was erected.
Fourth .- During the four years' residence of this Protestant Episco- pal clergyman in the village of Cleveland, he officiated at the weddings of many of its pioneer sons and daughters.
The annals of Old Trinity in its early years are very meager. They furnish nothing of the previous history of the Rev. S. C. Freeman nor of his subsequent career. Of the former there has been but one clue-he came to Cleveland from Virginia.
Right Rev. Bishop Gibson of Virginia has graciously supplied partial data, and but for the lingering illness of the Secretary of the Diocese of Pennsylvania at this time, complete records might be secured.
In July, 1823, the Rev. Silas C. Freeman was made rector of Lexing- ton Parish, Amherst County, Virginia. Where and when he was ordained are not on the records of that society. His work in that field seemed to have been effective, especially in reviving the church there. He remained until in the summer of 1826, when he closed his connection with Lexing- ton Parish, and in November of that year began his ministry in Old Trin- ity at a salary of $500 a year, or rather at that rate, as he was to give part of his time to St. Paul's, Norwalk, 60 miles west of here, and what-
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ever he received from his ministrations there was to be deducted from the $500.
It is open to suspicion that his salary was not easily raised nor prompt- ly paid, for we find him teaching a private school in the old Academy on St. Clair Street, and again he is conducting one at Chagrin Falls. In 1827, Mr. Freeman was sent east to solicit funds for the erection of a church edifice. He was successful, and Old Trinity's first church building was the result. It cost $3070. It stood on the corner of St. Clair and Seneca streets, and facing the latter. It had a square, two-story tower, which formed the entrance. It was lighted by four windows on each side and two in front, all screened with green blinds. The lot upon which the church stood was enclosed by low posts connected by a railing.
The wardens and vestry men were Josiah Barber, Phineas Shepard, Charles Taylor, Henry L. Noble, Reuben Champion, James S. Clarke, Sherlock J. Andrews, Levi Sargeant, and John W. Allen. The first three lived on the West Side.
The missionary spirit that probably caused Rev. S. C. Freeman to sever his connection with a flourishing parish in an old settled state and come to Cleveland to a struggling, homeless one, led him, in turn, to leave the latter when well housed and in a growing condition, and to strike out for a point farther west; therefore, in 1830, we find him rector of St. John's in Detroit, where he remained about the same length of time as in Cleveland. From there he returned east as far as Philadelphia, where rec- ords of him cease, or are not at present secured.
1826 CONGER
John Conger, who settled in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1667, was the ances- tor of nearly all the native-born Congers in the country. He had two wives and a large family of children. From that day there has been a steady stream of Davids, Johns, and Josephs in succeeding generations of the family, most bewildering to one member of it, Mr. Charles L. Conger of McIntosh, Minn., who is patiently compiling a Conger Geneal- ogy.
Very little has been preserved of the Cleveland life of James Lock- wood Conger, a lawyer residing in the city between 1826 and 1840, save through a package of old letters written by Mrs. Conger to her only sister, Mrs. Erwina Miner of Centerville, Fairfield Co., Ohio. James L. Conger, b. in Trenton, N. J., was the son of David and Hannah Lockwood Conger, who later lived in Phelps, N. Y. He received his general education in that locality and studied la wwith Judge Ewing of Ohio.
In December, 1824, he married in Lancaster, O., Miss Paulina Belve- dere Clark, daughter of Dr. Ezra and Sarah Clark, pioneers of that county and formerly of Middletown, Vt. James Conger was only nineteen years old and the bride but eighteen. The youth of the couple and the fact
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that they remained in Lancaster two years, suggests that he may have pursued his law studies after the marriage. A little boy named Seneca was born to them in Lancaster, who died young.
In April, 1826, they started for New York State to visit Mr. Conger's parents and perhaps with a view of settling near them. An acknowledg- ment of money received by the couple at that time is here given because of its phraseology :
"Received, Lancaster, O., April 25, 1826, of our revered father, Dr. . Ezra Clark, three hundred and fifty dollars towards our portion.
J. L. CONGER. PAULINA B. CONGER."
They drove a span of horses all the way to eastern New York and return, as far as Cleveland, which they reached September 6th of the same year. And in this month begins the series of letters previously men- tioned, a half-dozen only, but covering several years of the Congers' resi- dence in Cleveland. These letters are unusual for that day and genera- tion. The penmanship is beautiful, the composition correct in every par- ticular. The writer must have been a woman of charming personality ; a brave woman possessing great fortitude, but shy and sensitive, sweetly grateful for every kindness shown to her.
The depth of her affection is revealed in the messages to her aged father whom she seems to have idolized and whom, so far as the letters reveal, she never met again in this life. On her trip to New York she met Mr. Conger's family for the first time. Of these new relatives she writes :
"I frequently think of the remark you made when we were last to- gether, 'Do not be too sanguine in your expectations of James' parents,' and I was cautious not to be so. But my own could not do more for me. James' sisters were all equally kind, each striving to be most so. I was almost afraid to mention anything I wanted for fear one of them would get it for me, and they seemed to think they could not give me enough. I really think the whole family would have liked to come on to Cleveland with me, they were so truly attached.
"Father Conger and James went to New York City, returning before July 5th. They purchased about three hundred and fifty dollars' worth of books and other things. Father brought me a beautiful figured silk dress and other smaller presents."
The young couple drove back to Cleveland, but various and sundry household furnishings donated by the elder Congers were shipped by canal and Lake Erie. One barrel when opened was found to contain everything necessary for the laundry, while mop and dish-cloths had been tucked into another one. Nothing necessary or convenient in that line had been omitted or forgotten. And, just as the team was about to start on the long western journey, father Conger had placed a bill in his young daughter-in-law's hand, to be used by her for any personal need on the way.
When they reached Cleveland they found Mrs. Reuben Wood, wife of the future governor of the state, preparing for a visit to her former east-
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ern home. Her sister was to accompany her, and they intended to remain until spring. Evidently the Conger and Wood families were previously acquainted. The latter at once turned over the house they occupied, with all the heavier furniture to Mr. Conger, at a rental of $80 for the eight months' use of it. This sum also included the kitchen garden well stocked with a variety of vegetables and five bushels of peaches yet ungathered.
The departure of Mrs. Wood and her sister is told in one of the let- ters. "They started on Sunday, September 10th. We went out on a lighter about a mile from shore to the steamboat with them. The waves were very high and I became seasick on the way. Notwithstanding, on the whole I had a pleasant ride."
The young wife seems to have been very lonely in the new strange town, her only acquaintance in it having been Mrs. Wood whose return she pathetically anticipates. Meanwhile, Mr. Conger had purchased a lot on the south-east side of the Public Square. The east corner of the May Co.'s big department store now covers the site, and upon this he began the erection of a small frame-house, which, four years later, was considerably enlarged.
Mrs. Conger dwells upon the delights of its possession; speaks with pride of the sodding of her "door yard," and of her planting in it a rose, a lilac, and a snowball bush; of the high board fence surrounding three sides of the lot, and a little later of the arbor covered with five kinds of grapes, and of the square of English strawberries each side of the arbor, from which she picked sixteen quarts of fruit.
Stand, if you will, in front of the towering Cushing Building and imagine the little home, the lilac, and the snowball bush!
The furnishing of their house progressed slowly.
"I believe all the furniture we have, so far, are fees. James has sent to Pittsburgh, by a man who owes him, for a carpet for the front cham- ber and hall, and I have just finished a pretty rag-carpet for the back room."
The second summer after the house on the Square was occupied Mr. Conger's sisters, Hannah and Phebe, both mentioned as "beautiful young girls," make the family a long visit. We can imagine how pleasant those months must have been when we are told that "there are numerous young men in town, but very few young women." And in connection with this who can not read romance in the opportunities afforded in the state- ment, "There are many beautiful walks and rambles on this delightful lake. Every Sunday, after meeting, James and I take a walk by the lake, and often through the week we stroll through the Square and Ontario street to it and spend the twilight hours there." This was written August, 1827.
James Conger must have given evidence of unusual ability in his pro- fession for one so young, or he never would have found himself associated with Thomas Bolton, one of Cleveland's most able jurists. "Bolton & Conger, Attornies and Counsellors, Hancock Block, No. 93 and 95 Supe- rior Street," they announce professionally.
Some time after the panic of 1837, that was the cause of scattering many of the numerous Cleveland lawyers and doctors to all points of the compass, James L. Conger removed to Belvedere, Mich., where in 1847,
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after four years of battling with tuberculosis, Mrs. Conger died, aged forty-one. Mr. Conger married again, but there is no record furnished of this union. He became a prominent man of that community and at one time represented it in the lower house of Congress in Washington. He died in St. Clair, Mich., in 1876, aged seventy-one, and was buried in Columbus, O.
Children of James L. and Paulina Clark Conger :
Seneca Conger, b. 1825; died in in- fancy.
Abby Louise Meckler. He died in Columbus, O., 1882.
Helen Edwina Conger, b. Jan., 1827; Three younger children died in in- m. Thomas Lough. fancy.
William James Conger, b. 1829; m.
Helen Edwina Conger was born four months after her parents arrived in Cleveland, and often returned in after years to her native town, even since it became "Greater Cleveland." She was welcomed each time in the homes of our oldest families as a loved and honored guest, for she was an unusually bright, attractive woman. She died but recent- ly, leaving two daughters.
Mrs. W. B. Waggoner, one of them, resides in the city.
When James L. Conger removed to Michigan, he sold his Cleveland residence property to Dr. Erastus Cushing. He may have received less than $1000 for it. Today the lot is worth $8000 a foot front; a traffic tally recently taken showed that in the business hours of the day an average of 5134 persons pass this spot hourly.
1826
PRIME
Jewett Prime succeeded Ziba Willes as editor and publisher of the Cleveland Herald in 1826. He was a young married man who died within two years, leaving a widow who soon followed him to the grave.
They are buried in Erie Street Cemetery and Mrs. Prime's headstone is inscribed: "Fanny, relict of Jewett Prime, died 1832, aged 31 years."
The Jewett and Prime families of New England frequently intermar- ried, and probably Mr. Prime received his Christian name through such a family connection, but the writer has been unable to trace it. He may have been related to Moses Jewett, an early pioneer.
An Aaron Prime, carpenter and joiner, resided on Lake Street in 1836. He is interred in Erie Street Cemetery, but so far from the lot in which lie Mr. and Mrs. Jewett Prime that it would suggest no near relationship.
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1826
KELLY-KNEAN-TEARE
Early in the year 1826, two sisters and a brother with their families bid a final farewell to the Isle of Man and set sail for America. In May of this year, these people, thirteen in number, weary from weeks of travel and anxious for some place they could once more call home, settled in Newburgh in a locality now known as Broadway and Stafford Place. Had a roll been called of the little colony, the following would have responded :
William Kelly and wife Ellen Kneen Kelly, and their son John Kelly. Patrick Teare and wife Ann Kneen Teare, and their daughter Mary Ann Teare.
William Kneen, brother of Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Teare, his wife Mary Kenyon Kneen, and their children William, Mary, John and Jane Kneen.
Patrick Teare died soon after his arrival here, and in time his widow married again, a Mr. Kelly, and removed to Warrensville, Ohio. Nothing has been furnished the writer concerning the above pioneers save a brief sketch of Mrs. Teare-Kelly. She is depicted as a remarkably active and ambitious woman, the life of any gathering with her quick wit and jokes. When past 60 years of age, she visited friends in a neighboring town and upon going to the depot to return to her home, found her train already pulling out. She ran, and with a squirrel's leap, landed upon the plat- form of the last car, and was borne away amid the loud applause of bystanders.
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