USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. I > Part 4
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1797
THE FIRST CLEVELAND WEDDING
but a trading post, and contained no houses in which to shelter them, so they crossed the Niagara River, where they found accommodation for the winter.
When they resumed their travels and reached their destination the following May, the Carters were accompanied by a maid-servant by the name of Chloe Inches.
The surname is an unusual one, and though English nomenclature embraces many that are equally so, the writer is inclined to think that Inches is not an English name, but a misspelled French one, and corrupted from something quite different.
Take, for instance, the name familiar to us, as "Sizer." A century ago, Sizer was D'Zascieur, and we can all recall similar instances where the English tongue, unfamiliar with the eccentricities of French vowels, has twisted French names out of all semblance to their original form, the owners of them helplessly answering to their new cognomens.
No research enables us to decide whether Chloe Inches started with the party from Vermont, or attached herself to the Carters while they were in Niagara. The only mention of her is in connection with her mar- riage in Cleveland the following July.
Chloe Inches appears upon the annals of early Cleveland in one sen- tence, and disappears suddenly in the next. Her previous history and parentage are, and probably ever will be, unknown. Notwithstanding, this slip of a girl acquired distinction that July day when she simply and naturally took her place at the head of the great army of Cuyahoga County brides, estimated at 200,000.
And did she also lead the divorced women of this county down the path of regret and repudiation? No. Some other bride is responsible for the beginning of this sad procession of the unhappy, one that increases in shameful ratios with each succeeding year.
Chloe Inches also made an impress upon the economic life of Cleve- land households in that she was its first domestic, and, as such, estab- lished precedents that have caused unending annoyances to mistresses from that day to this.
For, alas! Chloe had a follower !
He followed 180 miles or more, from Niagara, Ontario, to Cleveland, in order to woo Mrs. Carter's little maid-servant.
How he came, by row-boat or sail-boat, hugging the shore and camp- ing by night in creeks or coves, or whether he walked all the way, or rode horseback, no evidence is adduced. As I have stated, accounts of the affair are most meager, and imagination must supply the details that early Cleveland annals fail to furnish. His name was William Clement, and we easily can fancy that Miss Chloe sometimes spoke of him tenderly as "my Will."
We do not know what objections, if any, Mrs. Carter raised to the young man's unexpected appearance and strenuous wooing. She cer- tainly had more reasonable cause for remonstrance than any Cleveland mistress that followed her, for her helplessness to successfully cope with the situation is apparent when we realize that she had no intelligence office to fall back upon, no columns of "Situations Wanted-Female," to scan, no hope of coaxing away the services of some other woman's serv-
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1797
THE FIRST CLEVELAND WEDDING
ant. Her only resource would be an Indian maid, not available because of her own desperate fear and aversion to the redskins. So, for several years afterward, Mrs. Carter was obliged to perform all her household duties, and care for her children unaided.
The wedding of William Clement and Chloe Inches took place July 4th, 1797.
The Declaration of Independence was just twenty-one years old. Only nineteen years lay between Valley Forge and that Cleveland day of double celebration, only fourteen since the close of the Revolutionary War. Therefore, the Fourth of July meant more to those early residents of Cleveland than it does to us of today. They had lived, suffered, and, per- haps, lost dear ones in the recent struggle. They had not had time to become weary of Fourth of July celebrations, nor indifferent to the patri- otic memories for which that day stands.
I assume that the first Cleveland wedding was the only one in which the guests included its whole population, therefore no imp of mischance mislaid, misdirected, or missent wedding invitations, thus paving the way for fancied slights and future misunderstandings.
Doubtless every one in town was informally bidden to the first patri- otic and social event. There were present Mr. and Mrs. Job Phelps Stiles, Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Hawley, Mr. and Mrs. James Kingsbury, the two young men of the town-Edward Paine and Pierre Maloch, the minister, Rev. Seth Hart-superintendent of the Connecticut Land Co., and Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo Carter, the host and hostess of the occasion, fourteen adults. Added to this, being seen and not heard, as befitted the youth of that day, may have been the ten children of the settlement.
As there were none but married people in the town, and very young children, Chloe must have lacked the support of bridesmaids upon this momentous occasion, and if either of the young men served as the groom's best man, history fails to record it.
The dearth of material for a fashionable wedding, however, had its recompense. The expenses did not include a bill for the bride's favors or masculine stick-pins.
THE WEDDING SUPPER ?
Imagination fails us here. The Rev. Seth Hart may have donated from the supplies of the Connecticut Land Co., otherwise they could have had no wedding cake, since neither the Carters nor the other settlers pos- sessed sugar or wheat flour. However, we may be sure that the hostess drew upon all her resources, and that all the other housewives added to the menu such offerings as their scanty larders permitted.
The wedding journey!
The second sentence in the annals of early Cleveland concerning this event reads, "He bore her away to Canada."
Now, in those days this term had a wide meaning; anywhere to the north of us, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the shores of Lake Superior. And within this land of wide domain the young couple vanish for 106 years.
The little hamlet of Cleveland becomes a vast metropolis, and its infancy sinks nearly out of sight and interest. Then comes its hundredth
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1797
THE FIRST CLEVELAND WEDDING
anniversary, when everything connected with its earliest history takes on new value.
As historian of the woman's department of the Centennial Commis- sion, your speaker became interested in the pioneer women of the West- ern Reserve, and for some years has been trying to trace Mr. and Mrs. William Clement and learn something of their subsequent history. Finally, when all other efforts failed, a communication was sent to the Toronto Globe, begging for assistance in the matter. The Globe kindly gave it publicity, and the result justified her faith in the power and value of the press. Out of the many letters received, but one was definite and satisfactory. Mr. Alexander Servos, of Niagara, Ontario, is the gentle- man through whose efforts we are enabled to trace the Clements into their home in Canada.
William Clement was the son of an American Tory, John Clement, one of Col. Butler's rangers, who devastated the Mohawk and Wyoming valleys during the Revolutionary War. He was a resident of Schenec- tady, N. Y. At the close of hostilities, with many others, proclaiming themselves as "United Empire Loyalists," he settled in Niagara, Ontario. He became a prominent man in the community, and died wealthy. Over his grave in St. Mark's Cemetery, of that township, a stone records that "Ranger John Clement died 1845, aged 87 years."
William Clement, his son, took his bride, Chloe Inches Clement, to a farm of 400 acres in St. Davids, a small hamlet within Niagara Township. St. Davids is about two miles from the Niagara River, and six miles from the falls. It is under the brow of a very high hill or mountain, with a never-failing spring stream running through it, and is now surrounded with thrifty orchards and vineyards. Here they raised a family of five children, three sons-Robert, James, Joseph, and twin daughters-Ann and Margaret.
William and Chloe Clement are buried in the cemetery of St. Davids, one stone marking their graves. The date of their deaths is 1835.
It is a pleasure to find that their descendants always were, and still are, honorable and respected citizens of the communities in which they live. I shall not dwell on this to the extent of wearying your patience, but will touch lightly upon the principal features that characterized them as a family.
Richard Clement settled in Norfolk County, Ontario; Joseph Clement in Brantford County, while James Clement remained in St. Davids and owned a large farm.
The twin daughters, Ann and Margaret Clement, married Richard and William Woodruff, of Connecticut, who settled in Niagara about 1802.
The only living grandchild of William and Chloe Clement, bearing the name, is a resident of St. Davids, and 76 years of age. He is an honest, wealthy farmer.
The Woodruffs have distinguished themselves in many ways as pro- fessional men, large mill-owners, prominent merchants, or extensive land- owners. Margaret Clement's son, Samuel D. Woodruff, is still living at the age of eighty-five. He is a civil engineer, and for many years was superintendent of the Welland Canal.
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1798
DODGE
As the Canadian stock of the Clements had its origin in New Eng- land and New York State, it is but natural that members of the younger generation should drift back to this country of their ancestors, and where their grandparents were married on its national anniversary. Therefore, we are not surprised that many have done so, and that this city at any time may possess an honored citizen, who is the direct descendant of the young couple who furnished the first wedding in Cleveland.
DODGE
1798
The name of Dodge in this county is as old as that of the city itself, as it has been on its records 113 years.
It began to be locally historical when a 21-year-old young man arrived here in 1798. He had trudged all the way from Westmoreland, N. H., to see for himself if the much talked-of New Connecticut was all that had been claimed for it, and to find out whether his chances for material advancement would be greater here than in his native town down East. The question must have been answered in the affirmative, for Samuel Dodge remained to become one of Cleveland's most valued citizens, as were his sons, and in after years grandsons of today. He was a car- penter and builder by trade, and at once found work in the erection of cabins for the families yearly arriving and needing transient or perma- nent shelter. He built a barn on Superior Street for Samuel Huntington, 30x40 feet in dimensions, for which, it is said, he received in lieu of $300 in cash, a strip of land on Euclid Avenue. It contained 110 acres, and extended from the avenue to the lake. Dodge Street, now E. 17th, runs straight through this property.
Here, in 1803, he built a log-cabin for his bride, Nancy Doane, who had arrived here nearly two years previous with her parents, Timothy and Mary Carey Doan, and had settled in East Cleveland. And here was built the first well in town. The stones that walled it in had first been used by the Indians to back the fire-places they occasionally built in their wigwams. Nancy Doan had taught school in East Cleveland and Newburgh, and while working at his trade in that direction Mr. Dodge met the pretty young schoolma'am.
The young couple lived a year or two in their Cleveland home, then moved out in the neighborhood of the Doans, now Windermere. Here Mr. Dodge had a large farm lying each side of Euclid Road, just west of the present car-barns. For 35 years past, part of it has been "Forest Hill," the property of J. D. Rockefeller.
In an advertisement of 1819, it appears that, in addition to farming, Samuel Dodge was engaged in making wagon wheels "of all sizes, large and small." In course of time, he returned to his city property, building a small frame-house upon it. His sons, after their marriages, built im-
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1798
DODGE
posing structures for their own use on either side of the paternal home. That of Gen. H. H. Dodge, west of it, was Colonial in style, its facade adorned with stately pillars. It was one of the show-places of early Cleveland, and long greatly admired. It still stands on the avenue, though no longer used as a residence.
George C. Dodge built to the east of his father's house, and when Dodge Street was cut through, his house became a corner one.
Mr. Samuel Dodge took high rank as an intelligent man, and it was found to be a difficult matter to get the best of him in an argument. What his knowledge lacked, his fund of good sense supplied. A former school-teacher, once working with him, was inclined to make too much of his own educational advantages, and to assume that they were superior to those of his associates. Mr. Dodge, annoyed at his partner's preten- sions, found an opportunity to retaliate. The man left the saw-mill, one day, to go to his dinner, leaving directions to a workman upon a piece of paper fastened to a log. It read, "This log wants to be cut 2x4."
Mr. Dodge came along, read the note, and added, "This log is inani- mate and can have no wants. Write correctly, Mr. Schoolmaster!"
Samuel Dodge died in 1854, aged 78. He had lived through the first 57 years of the city's life,-long enough to foresee its future greatness.
Nancy Doan Dodge, his wife, outlived him nearly a decade, dying at the age of 81.
1139044
Their children were:
Mary Dodge, b. 1804; m. Ezra B. Smith.
Henry H. Dodge, b. 1810; m. Mary
Anne Willey.
George C. Dodge, b. 1813; m. Lucy A. Burton.
Mary Dodge Smith, the only daughter of the pioneers, received from her father as a share of his city property the north end of it. Clinton Park, now a public playground for children, is a part of the original estate belonging to her. She died in her young womanhood of consumption, and her two children lived but a short time. She was buried in Erie Street Cemetery, beside her parents.
Henry H. Dodge, or "General Dodge," as he was known, was a lawyer by profession, being admitted to the bar at the age of 24. He became United States Commissioner, State Engineer, and filled other offices of trust. He is said to have been a man of strict honor and integrity, kind- hearted, and very patriotic. He died at his Euclid Avenue home in 1889, nearly 80 years old.
Mary Anne Willey, his wife, was the daughter of Newton and Lucre- tia Willes Willey, of New Hampshire. She had two little sons who died young, and seven daughters. The latter all lived to womanhood and married. Mrs. Dodge was a refined lady of charming manners, and gra- cious hospitality. She was the niece of Hon. John W. Willey, the city's first mayor, and of Mrs. Luther Willes, of Bedford. She had two broth- ers, also residing in the city, and a sister living East.
Mrs. Mary A. Dodge died in 1867, aged 47 years.
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1798
EDWARDS
The children of Gen. H. H. and Mary Ann Willey Dodge :
Mary Lucretia Dodge, m. William Heisley.
Samuel Henry Dodge, d. at three years of age.
Caroline Willey Dodge, m. John J. Herr.
Henry Newton Dodge, d. young.
Jeannie C. Dodge, m. Ambrose J. Benson.
Nancy A. Dodge, m. Edward K. Chamberlain.
Ella C. Dodge, m. Everton Lattimer. Georgia L. Dodge, m. Ernest Kluss- mann.
Kate W. Dodge, m. Albert Lawrence.
George C. Dodge was an auctioneer and commission merchant. He also owned a dry-goods and grocery store. The rapid growth of the city made his real estate and that of his brother so valuable that they gave up all other business in order to attend to it.
George C. Dodge was quite active in politics at one time, and served as the city's postmaster under President Tyler.
Mrs. Lucy Dodge was born in Manchester, Vt., 1817, and as a child came to East Cleveland with her parents, Dr. Elisha and Mary Hollister Burton. She was a beautiful woman, with a clear complexion, lovely dark eyes, and an abundance of dark brown hair.
Dr. E. D. Burton,1 her brother, is still living in the house in Winder- mere, in which he was born. The first home of George C. Dodge and his wife was at 48 Ontario Street, afterward occupied by Mr. Castle. They removed to their fine residence on Euclid Avenue, where they died. Mr. Dodge in 1883, aged 70, and Mrs. Dodge in 1900, aged 83.
Their children were:
Anna Dodge, m. Jeptha Buell. Wilson Dodge, m. Ella Dudley.
Fanny Dodge, m. Horace Hutchins,
a brother of Judge John Hutchins. George Dodge, m. Laura Gedge.
Mortimer H. Dodge, m. Flora Brit- ton. Samuel Douglas Dodge, m. Janet Groff.
1798
EDWARDS
Rudolphus Edwards, son of Adonijah and Polly Edwards, came to Cleveland in the fall of 1798 from Chenango, N. Y. He was accompanied by his wife and two daughters, one an infant of two months old.
The eldest of the children was the only one of Mr. Edwards' first wife, Rhoda Barnett Edwards, whom he married in Tolland, Conn., in 1790, and who died three years later.
He married, secondly, Miss Anna Merrill. It is claimed of the Ed- wards family that they came with a party of twelve people who met in
1 Died 1814.
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1798
EDWARDS
New York State while on their way to Cleveland. They were Nathaniel Doan and family, Samuel Dodge, Stephen Gilbert, Nathan Chapman, and, lastly, Joseph Landon, who had spent part of the previous winter in Cleveland.
Mr. Edwards had been engaged in surveying wild lands for six years before his arrival, and the compass used by him during that period is preserved in the Historical Society.
He built a log-cabin at the foot of Superior Street and a few feet south of it. This the family occupied for two years. Meanwhile, he purchased 500 acres of land on Butternut Ridge, afterwards called Wood- land Hills Avenue, and lately renamed Woodhill Road. It was at the eastern terminus of a highway now called Woodland Avenue. The farm extended north and east of Woodland to Fairmount Street. To this farm the family were driven by the virulence of the malaria that attacked them all while they lived by the riverside, and here another log-cabin was erected for their use. After ten years' occupation of it, Rudolphus Ed- wards engaged Levi Johnson to replace it with a frame tavern, which became an old landmark of future years. It was called the "Buckeye House," and its roof sheltered many a pioneer family bound for town- ships south and east of Newburg, and its hospitality cheered and com- forted in hours of weariness and discouragement.
The occupation of tavern-keeping and the care of his large farm were two of the many activities engaged in by Mr. Edwards. In the winter season he often drove his slow-moving ox-team as far south as Pittsburg with a load of wild honey, receiving in payment household supplies. He also made trips to Detroit, carrying hay and other commodities to the garrison established there by the government before 1812.
In later years, when his age began to tell upon him, he gave his whole attention to his farm and tavern. It is said of him that, "Rain or snow, hot or cold, as regularly as Saturday came around, Uncle Dolph, as he was affectionately called, with his old horse, Dobbin, old-time carryall, .. and big brindle dog seated bolt upright on the seat by the side of his master, would make his appearance in town for the purchase of supplies for the following week."
Anna Merrill Edwards was a woman of uncommon good sense and judgment-qualities much needed in those pioneer days. If Uncle Dolph kept too many irons in the fire, Aunt Dolph had as many more in con- stant use. Six children were added to the two brought from Tolland, all born in the old tavern. Besides a family of ten to care for, and the uncertain traveling public to entertain, there were spinning, weaving, soap-making, candle-dipping, and numberless other things on her hands, and she performed these tasks faithfully and as a matter of course.
But she died in middle age-53-when her youngest child was 15.
Mr. Edwards lost his father, mother, wife, and a daughter 25 years old within a period of three years. He died in 1840. All the members of the Edwards family who died in Cleveland were buried in a small ceme- tery in the rear of the old Congregational church, north-west corner of Euclid Avenue and Doan Street. It was then called the East Cleveland burying-ground. The entrance was from Doan Street. The largest and the finest monument in it, and, eventually, the last one, was that of the
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1798
EDWARDS
Edwards family, and, finally, when all the bodies had been removed from the cemetery, this, with other Edwards grave-stones, remained standing until the old church was razed. A big bank building stands on the site of the little church, and part of the cemetery is covered by another tow- ering edifice.
Adonijah Edwards, the father of Rudolphus Edwards, was a soldier of the American Revolution. At an advanced age he came to Cleveland to live with his son. His wife Polly accompanied him, and they lived the remainder of their days in this Western pioneer town. He died in 1831, aged 90, and Polly Edwards only a year later, aged 88. They were buried in the small cemetery, and their children, one by one, rested beside them.
The child of Rudolphus and Rhoda Barnett Edwards was
Sally Edwards, m. Patrick Thomas.
The children of Rudolphus and Anna Marrill Edwards:
Rhoda Edwards, b. 1798; m. Lyman Rhodes; 2nd, John Fay.
Cherry Edwards, b. 1800; m. Sam- uel Stewart.
Clara Edwards, b. 1802; m. David Burroughs.
Anna Edwards, b. 1805; m. Noble Olmstead.
Stark Edwards, b. 1808; m. Hannah Saxton. Lydia Edwards, m. Lyman Little. Rudolphus Edwards, m. Sophia Mussen.
Cherry Edwards Stewart, daughter of Rudolphus Edwards, Sr., was a merry-hearted woman who loved social pleasure. She was always on hand when sleigh-rides were proposed, and a beautiful dancer, who never lacked for partners at a party, even in middle age, and was leader in any fun going on. She was extremely neat, and, it is said, although refusing to use washboards after they were invented, her cothes hung on the line were snowy white.
She had no daughters, but loved her many young nieces, and nothing gave her more pleasure than to initiate them in the various household mysteries she had herself mastered.
Children of Samuel and Cherry Edwards Stewart:
Calvin Stewart, unmarried; d. aged 20.
Rudolphus Stewart, m. Margaret Sayles. She married 3rd, Edward Carter.
Jehiel Stewart, m. Sophia Thomas, sister of Dr. Thomas.
Noble Stewart, removed to the West, married and had children.
Children of Noble and Anna Edwards Olmstead :
Margaret Olmstead,
Stark Olmstead, Levi Olmstead,
Maria Olmstead,
twins.
Both parents died young, and the children were raised by their uncles and aunts. Rudolphus Edwards, Jr., took Margaret Olmstead, and Cherry Stewart took Maria Olmstead.
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1798
SPAFFORD
Children of Rudolphus, Jr., and Sophia Mussen Edwards :
John R. Edwards, m. Mary Grower. Sophia R. Edwards, m. Edwin Rob- Lydia Edwards, m. Newton Bate. erts.
Mary J. Edwards, m. Daniel Grower.
Sarah Ann, and Julia Stark Ed- wards, unmarried.
Mrs. Sophia Roberts is a well-known member of the Western Reserve Chapter, D. A. R.
In Harvard Grove Cemetery can be found the following inscriptions. No knowledge of the couple obtainable.
"Henry Edwards died 1804, aged 52 years. Mary Edwards, his wife, died 1814, aged 54 years."
Also : "Thomas Edwards, died 1829, aged 27 years."
1798
SPAFFORD.
How Amos Spafford, of Orwell, Rutland Co., Vermont, came to be in the employ of the Connecticut Land Co., is a matter of conjecture only. The story, doubtless, would be interesting to his posterity wherever it may be, but it is one as yet untold.
We first find him in May, 1796, with a company of 45 officers and men assembled in Schenectady, N. Y., preparing to explore and survey the Western Reserve. He is one of seven surveyors, the rest are helpers and laborers. He accompanies the party all through its journey in the Ohio wilderness, and takes a prominent part in allotting the future city of Cleveland. And upon his return East, he prepares a map of the city, -the first one made. He is a member of the second surveying expedi- tion, as its leading surveyor. At this time, a cabin for shelter, to hold supplies, etc., was built near the foot of Superior Street on its south side, and the following year, 1798, a traveler reports finding him in possession of this cabin. He was then assisting the Connecticut Land Co. in locating lots for arriving settlers, collecting land sales, etc.
It was not until the year 1800, four years from the time he first set foot in Cleveland, that he sent to Vermont for his wife and children. They were accompanied in the long journey by David Clark and family.
The Spaffords began housekeeping in the surveyors' cabin, which, though small, must have seemed a haven of rest to Mrs. Spafford after months of travel and camping. About this time, and before he began to build a home, Amos Spafford wrote a sharp letter of complaint to the land company, protesting against the high price of lots. He thought its demands unreasonable. Twenty-five dollars cash each for the sixteen
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