USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. II > Part 22
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A portrait of Mr. Stockly as a young man was painted in Philadel- phia by a Portuguese artist, Manuel de Franca, about the time he left that city.
It is the portrait of a large, handsome, and very attractive young man.
He was a leader and favorite in social circles in the Quaker City, and when he settled in Allenburg as manager of an enterprise that was to make so much business for a little, no-account village, he soon became a leader in everything. His wife, Mlle. Catherine Duchatel Stockly, was born in San Antoine, Lower Canada, and was the youngest of a large family. Losing her mother before she was two years old, her oldest brother took her with him, first to St. Albans, Vt., where he was en- gaged in the fur trade, and later to Chippewa, Canada, where he had a fur hat manufactury.
She was married to Mr. Stockly in June, 1831, at Niagara Falls, on the American side. They went to house-keeping in a little home in Allen- burg on the Welland canal.
The first child, Mary, lived less than a year. Then a second daugh- ter came to them, and she was also called Mary after Mr. Stockly's mother, Mary Galt Stockly.
The second Mary is now Mrs. Mary Stockly Cary of Cleveland (since deceased).
In 1837, the Canadian Rebellion broke out, and all American citi- zens holding property in the Dominion of Canada were ordered to swear allegiance to the English government, or leave.
Mr. Stockly could not thus relinquish his American citizenship, and although, by this time, he had acquired a large interest in the now flour- ishing mills, he gave it all up, chartered a vessel, loaded her with wheat belonging to him, and with his family and household effects, sailed off
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for the little town of Cleveland on the opposite side of the lake. Thus John Stockly became a pioneer of Cleveland. He was fond of telling that when he walked to shore from the vessel, and began prospecting for a home, he had just 25 cents in his pocket with which he bought oranges for his little daughter Mary.
The first roof that sheltered them was a tavern on Seneca street, south of Superior. He soon found a new row of stores, but lately erected on the south side of Superior street, called the "City Buildings," of which he rented No. 6, and had his cargo of wheat hauled there and offered for sale. From this beginning resulted a business now known as Kendal's seed-store, Ontario street.
Mr. Stockly sold out to John Stair & Son, who, in turn, sold to A. C. Kendal.
The first home of the Stocklys was on a little street on the hill over- looking the flats, Commercial st., and on the east corner of that street and Seneca was the First Baptist church.
Mr. Stockly made the acquaintance of Sheldon Pease, a well-known business man, residing on the corner of Superior and Seneca streets, and soon after met Hon. John W. Allen, a leading lawyer, and the three became fast friends for life.
The family moved to the north side of Superior street near Seneca, and lived there until the seed-store passed into the hands of Mr. Stair.
Mr. Allen, who owned a farm on Kinsman street, persuaded Mr. Stockly to move onto it, and experiment in the cultivation of mulberry trees and the raising of silk-worms. Congress provided the plants and the silk-worm eggs. Mr. Stockly built a cocoonery, and made a careful and thorough trial of the project. But it was not commercially feasible, as American silk could not compete with that of foreign manufacture. The experiment, however, proved very interesting. Silk threads were spun from the cocoons into twist, and there is yet in the family a hand- bag which was knitted by Mrs. Stockly out of the home-made twist she had spun.
The farm was separated from the town by a broad stretch of woods, and for a time, after the mulberry scheme was abandoned, Mr. Stockly raised vegetables, but he was never intended for a farmer, and soon re- turned to the city, building a house on land he had purchased at the foot of Water street.
Meanwhile, Dr. Upson of Talmadge had discovered coal on his farm and looked to Cleveland for a market. Mr. Stockly took the agency for the proceeds of this mine, secured a yard for it and a little office on the river, and offered it for sale. But no one wanted the "nasty black stuff" when wood was so cheap and plentiful. But he finally persuaded the steamboats to try it, and it was found a success. He then hit upon the idea of sending a wagon-load of it around the city, and giving it to any one who would make a trial of it. Thus he was a pioneer of the im- mense coal-trade of today.
Mr. Stockly soon saw the inadequacy of our harbor facilities, as the river was narrow and, in bad weather, almost impossible to enter. He then began to plan for a pier at the foot of Water street on his land, "as," he used to declare, "I own to Queen Victoria's line, and no one can
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hinder me." In due time it was completed and known as "Stockly's Pier," and one of the best landings on the lakes.
He also was instrumental in having Water street graded down to Wall street, newly opened, making an approach to the lake much as it is today. He was very anxious to have the lake-front extend all the way from Water street to the city limits, and strongly opposed the building of the Lake Shore railroad where it is, thus ruining what, he consid- ered, the greatest beauty of the city.
The frequent occasions upon which sick or dying sailors were brought ashore with no place to take them, made a deep impression upon Mr. Stockly's sympathies, and he recognized the great need of a hospital with special reference to their needs. It resulted in the building of a Marine Hospital.
One incident in connection with this was especially pathetic. A poor Indian chief, named Jocoset, Walking Bear, with other members of his tribe, had been on a mission to Washington, and was returning to the west. He was taken very ill and brought ashore by the officers of the steamboat upon which he was traveling, in a dying condition, and left on the dock to die.
Mr. Stockly's big heart was at once touched, and he had the Indian carried into the bedroom of his clerk, and sent for a physician. Every- thing was done for his comfort, and his life was prolonged, by this attention, for two weeks. At his death, Mr. Stockly headed a subscription paper to defray necessary expenses for burial in Erie st. cemetery, and a stone erected at his grave.
Mr. Stockly was a man of strictly temperate habits, and never touched tobacco in any form, and was kind-hearted and generous to a fault, often to his own undoing. Incidents without number could be given to illus- trate and show the spirit of a man loved by all who knew him.
As changes were made in the grading of Water street compelled the removal of his cottage residence on that street to Prospect street near its intersection with Huron.
At the time of the civil war, Mr. Stockly was too old to enlist, but joined the hospital service and was doing good service on one of the boats that went with Admiral Porter down the Mississippi river, was taken ill, and sent home. He never recovered, and died May 17, 1863. He was buried with military honors in Erie st. cemetery, but afterwards removed to Lake View to the family lot of Stockly and Cary.
Catherine Duchatel Stockly was a domestic wife and mother, to whom the care of her family was her first concern, and her children, of whom she raised six, have always showed the results of that helpful care, and have endeavored to do it credit.
She was born a Catholic, but as Mr. Stockly was an Episcopalian, they attended Trinity church, corner of St. Clair and Seneca sts.
During the great revival of 1844, she was converted under the preach- ing of the celebrated revivalist, Prof. Finney, and thenceforth was a mem- ber of the Old Stone church, where her children were raised in its Sunday School and its service. She was a good neighbor, fond of a few people, but had no desire for general society. She survived her husband
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18 years, living a very quiet life with her children and grandchildren, dying in January, 1882.
Children of John and Catherine Stockly :
Mary Stockly, b. 1834 in Allenburg; George Washington Stockly, b. married John E. Cary, 1852. 1844; married Olivia Devereaux.
Sarah Frances Stockly, b. 1841 in Anastasia Virginia Stockly, born in
Cleveland; married Capt. Albert Watrous.
Cleveland; married Otis B. Boise.
George W. Stockly, the only son in this family, was long a prominent citizen of Cleveland. He was engaged in mercantile business, and pres- ident of the Brush Electric Company. He had previously studied law, and been connected with banking interests. He died in Atlantic City, a few years ago.
1837
WILLIAMS
The life history of William Williams, pioneer of Cleveland, runs up and down a gamut of many years of change and circumstance. It begins in comparative comfort in East Windsor, Conn., sinks into poverty and privation; rises on to a plane of hopefulness and great expectation ; drops again into financial failure and domestic bereavement, but ends at last in a beautiful home on Euclid Ave., Cleveland, where, surrounded with comforts and the possession of leisure to enjoy the mental stim- ulus the stress of business had long denied.
Had William Williams been able to choose his forbear, he could not not have selected a more typical New England ancestry from whom to descend than the American progenitors of his family, whose posterity through nine generations has been noted for traits of character conducive to reverence, patriotism, honesty, spiritual growth and mental vigor.
There came a time when a son of Samuel and Margaret Huntington Williams, because of prevalent and adverse conditions in New England, faced the necessity of some radical change in the methods of providing for his large family of growing children.
For, although 30 years had passed since the close of the revolutionary war, the effects of that conflict were still felt. Taxes were high, the farming community had become impoverished by unwise and wasteful tilling of the soil, another war with England threatened, and a pall of business depression had settled down over the whole country.
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1837
WILLIAMS
It seemed to Ebenezer Williams and his good wife Martha Porter Williams (daughter of Nathaniel Porter), that it would be wise to get out from under all this, to take their children to that western land of promise, the New Connecticut, and there make a fresh start in life.
Therefore, in the fall of 1811, the family started on their journey to Painesville, O., the place selected for their new home. Two large wag- ons, a span of horses, and a yoke of oxen conveyed the party to Buf- falo, then considered the outpost of civilization, which was reached about the first of December.
Here the father made a mistake of judgment that caused much suf- fering, and nearly cost the family their lives. He listened to the ad- vice of some one who evidently coveted his entire outfit, and schemed to secure it far below its value. It was represented to Mr. Williams that farther progress by land would be doubtful if not impossible, and that the rest of the journey should be made by water.
He therefore sold his horses and oxen, meanwhile securing passage on a small schooner that lay anchored in Niagara river. For three weeks, one-third of which time their teams would have brought them to Paines- ville, they waited for a favorable wind to take the vessel out of the river. How or where the family was sheltered through those winter weeks of waiting has not been stated, but probably on the Canadian side, as Buf- falo, at that period was but a poor little hamlet of log-cabins, while west- ern Canada had been settled by American Tories for nearly three dec- ades. At last, late in December, long after navigation at the present day is considered closed, the little schooner rode out upon the lake, bearing its precious freight of human lives. Three days of the weather that December sometimes bequeathes would have brought it in safety to Fair- port. But, alas! no such good luck awaited, but icy winds, and boisterous waves that tossed it about like an egg-shell, and drove it from its course again and again. When, finally, Fairport was in sight, the dangerous surf would not admit of landing the party, so the vessel had to run back to Erie, the nearest harbor on the lake.
We cannot pause to conjecture the distress of the parents during those days of discomfort and danger. Probably, none of the party had ever before been upon the water, and to its peril was added, day after day, a new experience, the horrors of sea-sickness. Erie was but half the dis- tance yet to be journeyed, and Mr. Williams had to purchase anew, or hire teams in order to finish it.
Painesville was at last reached, and here the family received from earlier settlers of that town the typical welcome given to the newly ar- rived and exhausted pioneers.
The following year, 1812, Mr. Williams purchased the log-courthouse . which had been abandoned when the county-seat removed to Chardon, and in this home, in time altered and improved, Mr. and Mrs. Eben- ezer Williams spent the remainder of their lives. Its size and location peculiarly fitted it for the accommodation of the wave of western immi- gration that many long years swept by its door, and for the numerous travelers doing business in that section of northern Ohio. It was, there-
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fore, used as a tavern, and to this source of revenue Mr. Williams added a small farm of 20 or 30 acres.
William was nine years old when his parents removed to Ohio. He had little opportunity thenceforth for an education such as his inherited instincts and ambition craved, and the story of his efforts for self- improvement, as told by himself, is most interesting, and should be an inspiration to every other boy alike situated, though it would be an unusual one who could follow his example of overcoming obstacles that seemed insurmountable.
He spent his leisure moments in ciphering and solving the prob- lems in two old arithmetics or patiently copying over and over again some writing-lesson until he became a ready reckoner and an unusually good penman.
Then opportunity came his way.
A highly educated gentleman from Warren, O., stopped for a night at the Williams tavern, and became so interested in the lad, that he per- suaded the parents to allow him to take William to Warren, promising to care for and educate him; but within a year his friend and benefactor died, and he was obliged to seek another home and other opportunities.
Meanwhile, he had attracted the attention and interest of Warren's foremost citizen and banker, Zalmon Fitch, who took the bright, ambi- tious boy not only into his office, but into the shelter of his own home, giv- ing him the chance of a life-time. Here he remained six years, then ac- cepted a situation in a Buffalo bank. While in the latter city, his shrewd foresight led him to make fortunate investments in real-estate, the in- creased value of which furnished a fine capital for future business vent- ures.
Mr. Williams remained in Buffalo 12 years, and in the winter of 1836-7, removed to Cleveland, where he engaged in banking and in the real-estate business.
In May, 1825, he married Miss Lucy Fitch, daughter of Zalmon and Lucy Mygatt Fitch of Warren, O. The young couple began housekeeping in Buffalo. But the dream of a long life of happiness with his first love was scarcely entered upon when it was shattered by a sudden blow, death claiming the young wife, August, 1829, aged 20 years.
The children of William and Lucy Fitch Williams :
Betsey Maria Williams, b. 1828; m. Dr. Henry Kirke Cushing, 1852; d. 1903.
Grant Fitch Williams, b. 1829; m. Laura Cook, 1855; d. in Kent, O., 1870.
William Williams married 2nd, Laura Fitch of Warren, daughter of Zalmon and Betsey Mygatt Fitch, and sister of his first wife.
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WHITE
Children of William and Laura Fitch Williams:
Laura Williams, b. 1835, in Warren ; m. Edward L. Day.
William George Williams, b. 1837 in Cleveland; took degree of A. B. in Western Reserve College, 1861; m. Martha Portor Hastings; died in Oakland, Cal., 1905.
Charles Tudor Williams, b. 1839 in Cleveland. Took A. B. degree in Western Reserve College, 1862; served his country in the civil war from May to October, 1862, in the 8th Ohio Vol. Infantry; married 1st, Mary P. Carver ; 2nd, Mari Carlsen; President of the Cleveland Box Co .; resides Cleve- land Heights, O.
Lucy Williams, b. 1841 in Cleveland. Married John D. Crehore.
Edward Porter Williams, b. 1843, in Cleveland. A. B., Western Re- serve College, 1864; served in the 85th Ohio Vol. Infantry, in the civil war from May to October, 1862. He married Louise M. Ma- son of Utica, N. Y., in July, 1869. Was vice-president of the Sher- win-Williams Co. He died in Glenville, O., in 1903.
Mary Cushing Williams, born in Cleveland, 1846; married Henry Allyn Harvey; died in Cleveland, 1907.
Julia Mygatt Williams, b. 1848, in Cleveland ; died in 1855.
The family residence was on the north side of Euclid Ave., till the place was acquired by the city for the opening of Bond, now E. 6th street, after which it was on Euclid Ave., nearly opposite the end of E. 24th street.
Mrs. Laura Fitch Williams died in Cleveland in 1852, when the eldest of her seven children was 17 years old and the youngest but four years.
Mr. Williams outlived her 36 years, dying in 1888, aged 85 years. As will be noticed his three sons, born in Cleveland, graduated from Cleve- land's college, and two of them served in the civil war.
1837
WHITE
Bushnell White, a lawyer of early Cleveland, was born in 1813, the 10th child of Levi and Polly Dole White, and 24 years old when he came here from some town in Massachusetts.
Little can be learned of Mr. White, save that he led, outside of his office, the quiet, retired life of a student. He was U. S. District Attorney for a time and an able one.
His wife was quite an unusual woman. She was Elisabeth Brainard Clarke, only child of Levi Hubbard and Mary Griswold Clarke. She was born in Middleton, Conn., in 1811. Her father was an associate editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, and later he was a judge of the New York City Courts.
In various years Miss Clarke lived in East Haddam, Conn., and in Carthage, N. Y. In 1824 she became a pupil of the famous Troy Semi- nary, founded by Mrs. Emma Willard, where she remained four years, graduating in 1828.
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TAINTOR
When Gen. Lafayette visited this country, he was, as he said, de- lightfully entertained at the Willard Seminary, and, upon that red-letter day occasion, Miss Clarke was selected for one of the reception commit- tee.
At the age of 32, she came to Cleveland on a visit to friends, and here met Bushnell White, to whom she became engaged.
Mrs. White had much strength of character and a power of mind which impressed itself upon all who came within her influence.
Her fine, intellectual endowments enriched not only her own life, but that of her family. She frequently contributed to magazines and news- papers. To the end of her days she remained interested in the best lit- erature of the past and in touch with that of the present.
She lived to the advanced age of 88, having outlived her husband 14 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell White had but two children. The youngest, a lit- tle daughter, died in her tenth year. Their only son, John Griswald White, is a well-known lawyer, and a factor upon which city officials count in any designs upon vested property rights. He knows his Cleve- land well, and stands by, ready to defend in her times of need.
With no immediate family to provide for, he has, in a degree, adopted the Cleveland Public Library, bestowing upon it thousands of books, many of them rare and most valuable. They are preserved as the "John G. White Collection," and it is steadily being enlarged.
The family residence for over half a century was 187 Lake street.
1837 TAINTOR
Jesse F. Taintor was one of the many natives of Colchester, Conn., who forsook that charming, old Connecticut town in order to found a new home in Cleveland, O.
He was the son of Charles and Sarah Taintor, and in 1834, he mar- ried Eunice S. Pierce of Colchester. Three years later found them set- tled in Cleveland on Clinton street, West Side, and Mr. Taintor estab- lished with a firm of lumber dealers. Later, he became a teller and cashier in the old Merchants' National Bank.
But Mr. Taintor was best known to Cleveland citizens by his long connection with the post-office, which extended over nearly a quarter century, being its trusted cashier for that length of time. Meanwhile, he indulged himself in the real passion of his life, the love of flowers. He became an authority on trees, and flowering shrubs, and established at his later home, on Euclid Ave., near Perry Street, one of the first pri- vate greenhouses in the city.
Mrs. Taintor was Eunice Pierce, the daughter of Sylvester and Eunice Shepard Pierce. Her paternal grandparents were John and Zerviah Spaulding Pierce.
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SMITH
She was a woman possessed of lovely traits of character, devoted to her husband and children, patient, brave, and calm through every trial she had to face. She was very refined, and her bearing was dignified, but gracious.
Mr. and Mrs. Taintor had seven daughters who married into families long identified with Cleveland.
Anna Taintor, m. H. M. Peckham. Dead.
Sarah Taintor, m. Henry M. Board- man. Dead.
Mary Taintor. Living in the old
homestead.
Isabell Taintor, m. Charles Edward Bingham, son of Elijah and Thankful Bingham.
Jessie Taintor, m. James Hoyt, son of James and Ella Beebe Hoyt.
Catherine Taintor, m. Lieut. An- drews, U. S. A.
1837
SMITH
Anson Smith of New London, Conn., 43 years of age, came to the city in 1837, and engaged in mercantile business on River street.
His wife was Amy Crocker Beckwith before her marriage to Mr. Smith.
They lived on the West Side, then Ohio City, for a year or two, then removed to Euclid ave. and resided in the "Judge Cowles house," after- ward the Ursuline Convent.
Mr. Smith later built a stately Colonial home on the corner of Euclid and Muirson street.
In after years, Col. Harris, who married a daughter of Stillman Witt, purchased this house and remodeled it, tearing away the two-storied pil- lared porch and otherwise destroying the previous Colonial effect.
Mr. Smith died in 1890, a very aged man. His wife had preceded him to the grave 13 years before.
The children of Anson and Amy Smith:
Hamilton Lamphere Smith, m. Su- san Beecher of New Haven, Conn .; 2nd, Julia Buttles of Co- lumbus, O.
John Robertson Smith, d. aged 17 years.
Cornelia Smith, m. Judge John King of Dubuque, Iowa.
Henry C. Smith, m. Harriet Lufkin. Virginia Smith, m. Lyman Farn- ham of Mass.
Genevive Smith, m. Dr. W. H. Beu- mont.
Josephine Smith, m. John E. Huston of Columbus.
Carlos A. Smith, m. Isabelle John- son.
John Robertson Smith, was a soldier in the civil war, and died from the effects of it.
Members of the Smith family reside on East 81st street.
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1837
THORMAN
The year in which this family sketch is written, 1912, is a notable anniversary, not only to the grandchildren of Simpson Thorman, but to thousands of other residents of this city. For it is just 75 years since young Thorman landed at the foot of Superior street, far from his native home, alone, and among strangers. 1
Little could he then have dreamed what his arrival in Cleveland would signify in years to come. To him belongs the distinction and the honor to be the first of his long line of ancestry and ancient faith to settle in this city, and one of those who erected herein the first altar to Jehovah the God of Abraham.
This altar upon which burned the sacred fire was sheltered at first most humbly. Today it stands in a costly synagogue of rare architectural beauty, within whose walls a great organ and a gifted choir of voices proclaim that "the Lord is in His holy temple." But none the less ferv- ent was the sacred chant of the little congregation that gathered each Saturday in that pioneer day to establish in their new home the faith of their fathers.
Simpson Thorman was a Bavarian 23 years of age when he left home and friends to seek new ties and a livelihood in this country where for nearly two centuries men of his race had found political and religious freedom; men who, in turn, fought in the War of American Independ- ence and by their industry, frugality, and rare foresight contantly added to the wealth and prosperity of their adopted country.
Mr. Thorman landed in New York City, where he remained two years. How it happened that he left it finally and came on to Cleveland, to be- come our first Hebrew pioneer, has not been learned. That the forerun- ner of our immense Jewish population of today was a man of integrity, of business ability, possessed of pleasing manners, and esteemed by all his associates, is the testimony of those who knew him personally. His shoe-store was at 25 Ontario street.
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