USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 38
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Mrs. Seth Abbey was a fine woman worthy of much more than life gave her through her long years of wifehood and motherhood. She was faithful and true to all the obligations laid upon her, and faced bravely all the vicissitudes of life as they came to her. She was Mercy Hunt, adopted daughter of Marinus W. Gilbert of Oneida County, N. Y., and was 31 years of age when she removed to Cleveland. She brought with her five children, and three more were born here.
Children of Judge and Mercy Hunt Abbey :
Henry Gilbert, Edwin, Charles, Hannah Ward, Harriet, Charles Hunt, and Maria Frances Abbey.
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1830
GOODWIN
Henry G. Abbey was the best known of these children, and gained for himself a well-defined position of confidence and respect in the city. He was a personal friend of Leonard Case, Jr., and his confidential secre- tary. He was a member of the famous social and literary club called "The Ark." He married Miss Amelia Johnstone, the daughter of Dr. Robert Johnstone, and a very bright woman. She is now widowed and living abroad.
Harriet Abbey, born in Watertown, N. Y., in 1830, died in Cleveland at the age of 23 years.
Hannah Ward Abbey married John Ingersoll and is remembered as a beautiful woman. She died in 1892.
Mrs. Mercy Hunt Abbey, in her later years was an invalid. She died in 1854. The daughter of her sister married Dr. Thomas G. Cleveland, a well-known young physician of this city.
Two years after the death of Mrs. Abbey, Seth Abbey married Mary Lyon, widow of William T. Goodwin. The only child of this late mar- riage was Minnie Lyon Abbey, now Mrs. Charles A. Prentice.
1830
GOODWIN
William T. Goodwin was a saddler, and in 1836 was living in Orange Alley, now Johnson street. His wife was Mary Lyon, a sister of Mrs. Leonard Burgess, and daughter of one of the founders of Strongsville, Ohio. Their brother L. L. Lyon was a well-known citizen of Cleveland, whose residence was on Prospect corner of Sterling.
The Goodwins had three children :
Charles T. Goodwin, m. Miss Leek. Wallace William Goodwin, m. Anna Pickands.
After his death she became Mrs. John Huntington.
William Wallace Goodwin, m. Lucy Blair, daughter of Henry Blair.
The above brothers were twins.
William T. Goodwin died, and his widow married secondly, Judge Seth A. Abbey, and had a little daughter named Minnie Lyon Abbey, who married Charles A. Prentice. In her old age, Mrs. Mary Goodwin Abbey met with a tragical death. She was living in a fashionable boarding- house on Prospect street called the "Granger," when it took fire one day about noon under the main stairway. Mrs. Abbey was on an upper floor of the building, and at the alarm, started to escape, but, returning to secure some valuable papers, she lost her life. Judge Abbey had died several years previous. The Abbey family are buried in Woodland cem- etery.
360
1830
BILLINGS
William Billings, or "Squire" Billings, as he was designated, came to Cleveland in late life from Conway, Mass. His wife, Polly Williams Bill- ings, and three grown children accompanied him.
The family settled on a farm in Newburgh belonging to Edmund Clark, son-in-law to Mr. Billings. One of the daughters, whose name is not recalled, died unmarried.
Henry William Billings, their only son, was a member of the Cleve- land bar in 1836. He married and removed to Alton, Ill.
Anna Maria Billings, m. Edmund Clark, the pioneer banker and merchant.
Julia Billings, the youngest child, lived with Mrs. Clark after the death of her parents.
She married George Barlow, and lived on Prospect street many years, where she died 83 years of age. She was very active in the Third Pres- byterian church, of which she was long a member.
Mr. and Mrs. William Billings, the pioneers, rest in Harvard Grove cemetery. Their headstones denote that Mr. Billings died in 1864 aged 87 years, and that his wife died aged 69 years.
Beside them is the grave of Lydia McKee, born in Conway, Mass., in 1791, died aged 65 years.
1830
BARKER
Aaron Barker was the seventh postmaster of Cleveland, succeeding Daniel Worley in the office. He came from Madison, N. Y., to the city about 1830. Mrs. Barker was a Miss Mary Sizer, daughter of Major Asa B. and Elisabeth Starr Sizer. The name was originally French, and spelled De Saisure. Major Sizer was in the same regiment with Gen. Wool in the regular army. Mary Sizer was born in Rome, N. Y., but her parents moved to Madison, where she was married.
Their first home was at Doan's Corners, and afterward Mr. Barker built a house and occupied it on the south-west corner of Ontario and St. Clair street. During his first years in the city he was a man of means, but he invested in too many schemes that required much capital, and too long a time in which to realize on it. At one time he owned very valuable real-estate, which had he held, would have made his children in after years independent. One of these was the lot now occupied by the Society for Savings. When fortune ebbed he moved his family to Mentor, and they all died there and were buried in a Painesville cemetery, except a daughter, Miss Sophia L. Barker, the only living member, who resides on Kennard street. She is a most interesting, intelligent woman. In her younger days she knew all the old Cleveland residents, and recalls many valuable incidents connected with them. She visited in Buffalo often, and had an extensive acquaintance there. She has been kindly, and most useful in furnishing facts to the writer. One of her memories is
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1830
WHITELAW
the visit of Martin Van Buren to the city. Her brother Henry Sizer Barker, a Naval officer, died aged 25, and another brother and sister died young.
1830
WHITELAW
There were single men from Scotland and those with families who came to Cleveland early, remained a year or two, and then moved on to other towns within the county or beyond it.
Mark Whitelaw and his bride Marie Nelson, who came here from New York City in 1830, were the first permanent Scotch settlers of this place. Mr. Whitelaw was but 22 years old. He was born in Haddington, Scot- land, the son of John and Agnes Robertson Whitelaw. Mrs. Whitelaw was born in 1800 in Arbroath, Scotland. Her parents were William and Jane Nelson.
When they first came to Cleveland, the young couple found a home for themselves in a house on the Public Square near the old courthouse. In after years they permanently settled on Summit street, near Seneca.
Mark Whitelaw was of the firm of Whitelaw, Goodwin & Co., sad- dlers and harness makers, who were doing business at 62 Superior street until the death of William Goodwin, junior member of the firm. Mr. and Mrs. Whitelaw were members of the Old Stone church on the Public Square. At their death they were interred in Erie street cemetery, but later were removed to Lake View by their daughter Miss Mary Whitelaw.
Children of Mark and Maria Whitelaw:
John Whitelaw, b. 1831; m. Mary Arkland of Oshawa, Can.
William Whitelaw, b. 1833; died young. Agnes Whitelaw, b. 1834; m. James
Hole of Milwaukee, Wis .; she died 1886, no issue.
Mary Whitelaw, b. 1837. The only remaining member of her father's family, 1912.
John Whitelaw was city civil engineer for many years, and for more than 39 years was superintendent and engineer of Cleveland Waterworks department. He died in 1892.
The children of John and Mary Whitelaw:
James Herbert Whitelaw, m. Alice Alice Whitelaw, m. John E. Boswell Sprecher of Cleveland. At pres- ent assistant cashier of National City Bank. of Toronto, Ont. Edith Whitelaw, m. Dr. John F. Ste- phan of Cleveland.
362
1830
WOOLSEY
John M. Woolsey came to Cleveland from New York City about 1830. He was a member of a distinguished family of scholars and statesmen of New Haven, Conn., and is described as a tall, fine-looking man of courtly bearing. He at once gained the respect of the leading citizens of the place, and during his 20 years or more residence in the city, his ad- vice and judgment in civic affairs had due weight.
Soon after his arrival, Miss Jane Andrews, daughter of Dr. John Andrews of Wallingford, Conn., came west on a visit to her brother Sher- lock J. Andrews, and while doing so met Mr. Woolsey.
She was a charming, high-bred young woman, and in after years was noted for her stately bearing. It is said that the Woolseys were the handsomest couple that lived in Cleveland in those early days. They had more ready money than the average citizen and maintained a finer style of living. Mrs. Woolsey possessed the first carriage brought to the city that had steps for convenience in alighting from it.
The Woolseys had a family of interesting children, one of whom be- came a well-known writer of children's books and stories. Mr. Woolsey was a merchant and had a store on Superior street near Water street, but he began to deal in real-estate, and finally gave his whole attention to it. He allotted all the pasture land that for so many years stood unoc- cupied between Mrs. Williamson's house and Erie street, and it was not long after he put it on the market before the north side of Euclid street was built up with residences. Mr. Woolsey erected one for himself, and his brother-in-law, George A. Hoadly, built on the next lot. After the city line was moved eastward from Erie street to Willson ave. the two men erected fine homes on the same side of the street just beyond where the Union Club now stands. The families lived side by side until the Woolseys left the city, returning to New Haven, Conn., about 1855. There they remained about 25 years. Mr. Woolsey died, and his widow and children bought a beautiful home in Newport, R. I. At this writing, May, 1910, the last two members of the family have passed away. Will- iam Woolsey two weeks ago, and Theodora Woolsey within a few days.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Woolsey :
Sarah Woolsey, a noted American writer, whose nom de plume was "Susan Coolidge."
Jane Woolsey, m. Rev. Dr. Henry Yardley.
Elisabeth Woolsey, m. Dr. Daniel C.
Gilman of Johns Hopkins Uni- versity.
Theodora Woolsey, d. in Newport, R. I., May, 1910.
William Woolsey, resided in Aiken, S. C.
363
1830
STANLEY
George W. Stanley came to this city from Wallingford, Conn., some time in the early '30s and opened a law office. He was a man who had attained distinction in his native town where for nine years he had been Judge of Probate. He was about 60 years of age when he left New Eng- land for the west.
He was the only son of Deacon Oliver and Mary Chauncy Stanley. His father was a captain in a Connecticut regiment in 1777, who at the close of the Revolutionary War, continued conspicuous in public and church life.
In middle age, George W. Stanley married Clarissa Nichols of New- ton, Conn., who died in Cleveland in 1873 at an advanced age. The fam- ily lived at 86 Ontario street during the first years of their residence in town.
Mr. Stanley was a graduate of Yale in the class of 1793. He died in 1854 aged 79 years.
Children of George W. and Clarissa Nichols Stanley :
George A. Stanley, b. 1818; m. Sarah C. Stanley, b. 1827; died Helen E. Foote ; died 1883. 1904.
George A. Stanley, the only son, was a prominent citizen of Cleve- land for many years, and became a man of independent fortune. Follow- ing the example of his father, he remained a bachelor until middle age, then married a charming young lady of Detroit, Mich. She was the daughter of George A. Foot of that city, and an older sister of Mrs. James J. Tracy. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley died young.
1830
WOLVERTON
Stephen Wolverton was a Virginian who lived in Erie, Pa., for some years, serving as its sheriff from 1816 to 1820. He was county commis- sioner, and in 1823 chosen a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. No record of the year he came to Cleveland has been preserved. He was the light-house keeper in 1836, and lived in a house adjoining it on Water street. He also held the office of wood-inspector when the city was or- ganized. There were two or three wood-markets where farmers' teams loaded with wood stood all day long, awaiting customers. Superior street at its intersection with Water street, now West 9th, was the principal one. An old settler has declared that he had seen ten loads standing there together and stuck in the mud so fast as to be extricated with difficulty.
The duties of an inspector were to see that a load of hickory was all it purported to be, and not partly of inferior grades, and that cords of wood were full measurement. Wood was the only fuel for the first 50
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1830
WOLVERTON
years of the city's age. By 1856 coal was fast crowding it out of the market.
The maiden name of Mrs. Wolverton has not been given.
The children of Stephen Wolverton:
Nancy Wolverton, m. E. W. Segur Mary Wolverton, m. an U. S. Army
in 1835. officer, and lived in Detroit.
Jane S. Wolverton, m. Capt. Timo- George Wolverton. Nothing found thy Ingraham, 1835. regarding him.
The three young ladies of the family were pretty, stylish, and very popular, especially with the Navy and Army officers who chanced to be in town on business for the Government. The Wolverton girls also were very musical, and sang in church and at private entertainments.
In connection with this, the following card of thanks inserted in an old Cleveland Advertiser will be of interest:
"We, the undersigned, committee of arrangements for celebrating at Cleveland the 59th anniversary of American Independence, wishing not only to express our own feelings but the sentiments of those who partici- pated, take the liberty, in this manner, to express to the Misses Wolver- ton grateful acknowledgments for their generous aid in assisting the choir in the ceremonies at the Episcopal church, 'Old Trinity,' on that occasion.
And the undersigned would further tender them their individual con- gratulations with assurances of respect and esteem.
Daniel Worley. Nicholas Dockstader. Samuel Cook.
Jonathan Williams. John E. Lyon.
Reuben Champion.
Seth A. Abbey. James A. Briggs.
James S. Clark.
John Barr.
William Lemen. Alfred S. Sandford.
July 9, 1835."
The above names represented men who were all conspicuous in the professional and business affairs of the city.
Two of the sisters became brides in the fall of that year. E. M. Segur, who married Nancy Wolverton, was landlord of the Mansion House, formerly the Merwin Tavern. But a few days following the Fourth of July celebration above alluded to, a devastating fire swept the south side of Superior street from nearly opposite Bank street to Water. The thick eastern walls of the Mansion House checked the flames, and the building escaped destruction. But over-zealous firemen, or those assist- ing the fire department, damaged the furnishings of the hotel to an ex- tent equal to a fire. Costly furniture was pitched into the street, beautiful curtains torn down, pictures and china smashed, in short, human nature seems to have conducted itself in the same idiotic fashion in 1835 as is sometimes shown in 1914.
The Wolverton sisters received their musical education in the East, and the Segurs went there finally to live where Mrs. Segur and subse- quently her daughters, sang in New York church choirs. All the members of the family died there. Mr. Stephen Wolverton died in Detroit, where he was residing at the time with one of his children.
365
e d
1830
VINCENT
John A. Vincent and his bride Mary Graham Vincent who came west in an ox-sled from Woodville, Pa., in the winter of 1830, were one of the many newly married couples whose wedding journey over hills, down dale, and across rivers brought them at length to the little village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga where they were to found a home and a family.
The bride of those days usually was very young, but generally ex- perienced in all household lore. Above all she knew how to prepare a tempting meal out of scanty or limited supplies. Her equipment for culinary effort too often was but an iron kettle and a big bowl. There were no double boilers, fancy roasters, and endless tools for peeling, whip- ping, basting, steaming, and stirring. Just the kettle and the bowl.
The pioneer bride of 1830 knew how to make her modest furniture appear to best advantage, until that day when time with prosperity had added the long needed, and long wished for chairs, tables, and bureaus, with pretty soft carpets for every room in the house.
John A. Vincent was a skilled cabinet-maker, and his young wife probably gained all these most desirable pieces of furniture much sooner than less fortunate brides. It is said that the ox-sled in which they trav- eled was a wedding-gift. But, after reaching Cleveland they could have no use for ox or sled, and doubtless sold or traded them to some farmer in need of both.
They found no vacant houses waiting their convenience. Every one was occupied. It seemed an appalling situation to confront them at the end of their long, wearisome journey. But on Mandrake street, just be- low Water street, some enterprising cooper had erected a large shop which he offered to sell them. It was clean, and odorous with the sweet smell of freshly-sawed lumber. There was a second story, well lighted, and into this John and Mary Vincent took their belongings and themselves, glad of the shelter it afforded. The lower floor was also rented for John's cabinet-shop. Here they remained for a year or more, the upper floor meanwhile having been neatly divided into three good-sized rooms. In time the household part of the establishment was removed to 34 Water street, close enough, however, to make convenient the call for dinner.
Cabinet-making proved a most profitable business. The boom of 1836 brought hundreds of eastern people to the city and county who had burned their bridges behind them-sold off all their furniture-and tables, chairs, and beds were local necessities loudly demanded. Mr. Vin- cent prospered, and then kept right on prospering. He took unto himself a business partner, and built or rented a large store on Water street in which to place the quantities of furniture their factory turned out.
Today "Vincent," coupled with Barstow, yet remains a familiar busi- ness name to all Clevelanders, though the senior partner of the firm passed into the higher life nearly a quarter century ago. His portrait hangs in the counting-room of the present elegant establishment of "Vincent and Barstow" on Euclid ave. It depicts a fine-looking man with a strong, self-reliant face.
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Vincent had two sons and two daughters: Elisabeth Vincent, died unmarried. Henry Vincent.
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1830
ROUSE
John Vincent, married and died, Mary Vincent, m. 1st, Capt. Theo- dore Reed; 2nd, Dr. T. N. Himes.
leaving a son and daughter.
1830
ROUSE
Benjamin Rouse, son of Joseph Rouse, was left an orphan at the ten- der age of six years, and thenceforth made his home with his maternal grandmother. When only 17 years old he served in the war of 1812.
In the prime of life, 35 years, he came direct from the city of New York, even then the national metropolis, to the quiet little village of Cleveland numbering but a thousand people, in order to spread the gospel ; not as an ordained minister or as a missionary, but as a colporteur to distribute tracts and as a salesman of good, religious books in a com- munity sadly deficient at that time in such literature.
He came in the interests of the American Sunday School Union, which was endeavoring to establish repositories for their publications in every town in the western pioneer states.
Mr. Rouse did not begin his business life with any such occupation in view. He was a builder and contractor, and in 1824 left Boston, his native place, for New York to seek larger opportunities for his special line of work, but being a man of quick, generous sympathies and religious tendencies, he became interested in the poor districts of the big city, and his success in winning the confidence and affection of the people living in them attracted attention, and the Sunday school union recognizing him as a valuable man for their purposes, eventually persuaded him that the building of houses was as nothing compared with the building of char- acter. Therefore, in October, 1830, accompanied by Mrs. Rouse and their three children, he arrived in Cleveland and opened up a little store on Superior street below the American House for the sale of the books se- lected for the occasion. Afterward it was on the north-west corner of Superior street and the Public Square (the site now occupied by Marshall's drug-store). The purchase price was $600.
As early as in 1821, Hershel Foote had kept a small stock of secular books, stationery, etc., in the same spot with what success has never been stated. He removed to the vicinity of Euclid Ave. and Noble road about the time the Rouse family arrived. It is possible that upon learning a big concern like the S. S. Union was about to open another book-store, he relinquished a business that could stand no competition.
Shoulder to shoulder with Benjamin Rouse in this new enterprise, was Rebecca Eliott Rouse his wife, 31 years of age, to whom he was married in 1825. She was born in Salem, Mass., and was the daughter of John Cromwell who died when she was a child.
Little did the idle loiterer and the curious neighbor dream as they watched, perchance, this slight young woman unpack her household ef- fects, or arrange the books in the store with a view to their convenience
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1830
ROUSE
or attraction, that one day thousands of soldiers marching down Superior street and passing this spot on their way to the battle-fields of a great civil war would think of her or address her lovingly as "Mother Rouse," and that as many more thousands of soldier boys would also bless her name; and yet, before that time arrived, her energies and enthusiasms had long given promise of her greatest of all efforts when a national appeal stirred her soul to its depth.
The cause of temperance in the town early claimed her attention, and in 1842 she organized a Martha Washington society as an auxiliary to the effort of John A. Foote and other earnest citizens to check the drink habit that was fastening upon the community in an alarming degree.
She also was one of the founders of the Protestant Orphan Asylum and an active member of its management many consecutive years.
Mr. and Mrs. Rouse were charter-members of the First Baptist church organized in 1833, and of which Mr. Rouse was long a deacon.
He also drove around the country presiding at religious meetings in little churches in the absence or lack of regular pastors. For a time, just how long has not been ascertained, the family left the city temporar- ily and resided in Richfield, O .; doubtless the move had some connection with the S. S. Union work; meanwhile the Superior street home was early relinquished for a more quiet one on Wood street below St. Clair Ave.
The civil war brought national prominence to Mrs. Rouse through her connection with the Soldiers' Aid Society, the headquarters of which was located in Cleveland, but including in its membership all northern Ohio. She was its very efficient president, and largely responsible for its wonderful success in ameliorating the condition of federal soldiers on the field, in camp, and in the hospital during the four years of the ter- rific conflict.
In the latter years of his life, which closed in 1871, Mr. Rouse en- gaged in several lines of business greatly to his financial advantage.
Mr. Rouse lived 16 years afterward, and died at the advanced age of 88 years, having lived in the city over half a century.
The children of Benjamin and Rebecca Rouse :
Benjamin Franklin Rouse, m. Sa- brina A. Rockwood of Whitehall, N. Y. George W. Rouse, m. Anna Grant Campbell, daughter of William Campbell.
Edwin Cooleridge Rouse, m. Mary Miller, born in Cleveland.
Ellen Rebecca Rouse, m. Loren Prentiss of Cleveland.
Mrs. Loren Prentiss, the only daughter of the family, was her mother's worthy successor in church work and all benevolent activities. In turn her daughter, Mrs. Felix Hughes, preserves the family traditions through her tireless energy and enthusiasms in Cleveland's musical world. She has proven that a woman can be a successful impresario, and to her this city owes the opportunity of hearing the most famous musicians of this and other countries.
368
ERRATA
Owing to an accident to manuscript, a group of pioneer families, which should have been placed between pages 368 and 446, will be found after the year 1840, and beginning at page 626.
No part of the Public Square of the City of Cleveland has ever belonged to a private party, nor has any portion of it been offered for sale. All statements to the contrary are based merely on tradition.
In the Brooks sketch, page 235, an error appears regarding the children of the family. Freeman Brooks married Melinda Rathbun. Edward Brooks married Lydia Rathbun.
May sketch, page 288, fifth line from top, for Goshen, read Sharon, Conn.
Page 239. The town marshal was Hiram B., not Harvey Wellman.
Clark sketch, page 415. The second daughter was Maria Clark, who married Julius Gay. The elder son was Mervin, not Marvin.
Hurlbut sketches, pages 417-430. The name of this family misspelled; not Hurlburt nor Hulburt.
Gallup sketch, page 427, in 13th line-for Josiah read Jabesh.
Tinker sketch, page 337. Children of family should read:
Herbert Tinker, m. Mary of Michigan.
Alson Tinker (omitted), m. Mrs. Eliza Topping.
Fred D. Tinker (seventh son), m. Anna Moroth.
Coe sketch, page 599, second line, read Col. Eli Parsons, not Coe.
Omitted from page 381: "Dr Horatio Nelson Flint of Leyden, Mass., died aged 32 years." A monument erected by his wife marks his grave in Erie street cemetery.
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