USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. II > Part 6
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For over half a century Mrs. Hurlburt was identified with the social life of the city. She was interested, also, in charitable work and long a trustee of the Lakeside Hospital. She possessed a forcible personality, and a strong will-power.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Hurlburt were connoisseurs in art, and their
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home was filled with rare pictures and valuable bri-a-brac collected from many parts of the world.
These with half of their great fortune was left to the city to found a gallery of art. At the time of Mr. Hurlburt's death in 1889, twenty- three years ago, and so far, no steps have been taken that insure the building of such a gallery for years yet to come.
Mrs. Hurlburt survived her husband until 1910 when she died at the advanced age of 91 years.
A monument in Lake View cemetery marks their resting-place.
1833
HANDERSON
"Handerson & Punderson" was a well-known firm of druggists doing business at 75 Superior street. The members of it were Lewis Hander- son and Ebenezer Punderson, brothers-in-law. The latter never mar- ried.
Lewis Handerson was the son of Ira and Elisabeth Happ Handerson of Claverack, N. Y., who came west in the early '30s and settled in Orange township. Lewis married Prudence Punderson, daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Capron Punderson of Red Hook, Dutchess Co., N. Y. He had no children, but the tragic death of his brother Thomas Handerson while bathing in the Chagrin river, leaving a family of six children, gave into his care a nephew and niece whom he adopted and fathered the rest of his life. The children were Dr. Henry E. Handerson, still a practi- tioner of this city, and Harriet Frances Handerson. The latter is the only surviving charter member of Grace Episcopal church, and in many ways is a remarkable woman.
Although born in 1834, she would easily pass for fifty years of age. Her personality is unusual, her days full of her home, her beloved church, her friends of a lifetime. Always the last person to look out for has been herself, and she is "Aunt Harriet" to many young people not of kin.
The Lewis Handersons lived for some years at 68 Seneca street next to the City Hotel, and then moved to Broadway near the site now occu- pied by the Friendly Inn. That property was originally the Wal- worth farm, and along in the '30s was allotted, and soon the Broadway frontage was sold to prominent citizens who built homes along the street. It was considered a desirable neighborhood, the only drawback, it was so far from town! By standing at the east end of the old Market house and looking south-east one can see close at hand the sites of these homes, and realize the change years have made in a Clevelander's idea of a convenient location.
These Broadway homes usually stood in the center of large lawns and gardens. Dr. Strickland lived in the nearest one, his wife having been a Walworth and one of the heirs of the property. The Handerson
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and Inglehart homes were east of the Stricklands, and adjoined each other.
Mrs. Handerson was a large, fleshy woman, who good-naturedly par- ried any allusions to her size. She was however, very light-footed and a graceful dancer. Once when invited by a gentleman to be his partner in a quadrille, she astonished him greatly by promptly accepting, and had asked her in a spirit of fun, expecting his request to be declined.
Besides Ebenezer Punderson, her husband's partner, she had another brother, the Rev. Epriam Punderson, an Episcopalian clergyman. He married Esther Moody, an accomplished lady who was his helpmeet in every sense of that word. Her sister Caroline Moody married Charles Preston, a well-known banker and business man of Norwalk, Ohio.
The Rev. Punderson had charge of churches in Sandusky, Belle- vue, Norwalk, Lyme, and other towns. He kept a classical school for boys on Champlain street in this city, which was popular and successful. But it burned down, and other misfortunes following saddened his de- clining years.
The Handersons and Pundersons rest in Woodland cemetery.
Dr. Seth Smith Handerson, an uncle of Lewis, also lived in Cleve- land. He practised medicine, and was at one time the city's sheriff. He was married twice. His first wife, an eastern lady, left him a son, Zebina. His second wife was Miss Sarah Hart, from near Albany, N. Y., and they had three children :
Dr. Charles Handerson, d. in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mary Handerson, m. Philetus Bos-
worth, and died in Tennessee.
Nancy Handerson, who married Hu- ron Beebe, one of Cleveland's ear- ly sheriffs. They died in Racine, Wis.
1833 HUNTINGTON
George Cabot Huntington was one of the earliest crockery merchants of the town. He carried on a wholesale and retail business at No. 5 Superior street. In his advertisements, he called attention to his sign of a big pitcher, as a guide to customers.
He was the son of Erastus Huntington of Norwich, Conn., and about the year 1833 when 26 years of age, came to Cleveland. At the same time he was married to Miss Angeline Porter, daughter of Asahel Porter of Waterbury, Conn. She had two children, and died at the birth of the second one, and was laid away in Erie street cemetery. Both children died in infancy, some time in the '60s all were removed to a Kelley Island cemetery.
In 1837 Mr. Huntington married secondly, Emmeline Kelley, daugh- ter of Datus Kelley of Kelley's Island. She lived to be 80 years of age, dy- ing on Christmas day, 1909, in Denver, Colorado. Two years after his
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second marriage, and following the disastrous panic of 1837, Mr. Hunt- ington removed to Kelley's Island where he remained until 1870, when he took up his residence in New York City, and died 6 years later in Wallace, Kan., and was buried on Kelley's Island.
The children :
Erastus Huntington, a merchant of Kelley's Island until 1895, when he removed to Cleveland, and died here in 1907.
Simon Huntington, died in 1863 from wounds received in the bat- tle of Stony River.
Daniel K. Huntington, now living in North Olmstead, Ohio, and en- gaged in fruit-growing.
Joseph A. Huntington, lives in Den- ver, and engaged in the real-estate business.
1833 -
GRAY
Two years previous to the Ohio boom of 1835, four brothers living on a farm in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, New York, had a heart-to- heart discussion over ways and means. They were Ransom, Admiral Nel- son, Ami Nicholas, and Joseph W. Gray.
The paternal farm was unproductive. Its stony, worn-out soil gave meagre returns for all the labor expended upon it. Had scientific farm- ing been known at that time, the land could have been reclaimed, and perhaps Cleveland would never have made the acquaintance of a family that became such a factor in the political life of the city.
Said Admiral N. Gray to his younger brother: "I am sick of all this! Let us get out from under it. Suppose we break away and start anew in that town in Ohio folks are talking so much about."
"What could we do there?" asked his brother.
"We'll find something. You can teach school, and I, at least, can chop wood."
And A. N. Gray did that very thing for the first weeks of his life in Ohio. He brought his young wife, Roxanna Whitney Gray, and their two children to Cleveland, and from here to Parma, selected a spot that suited him, cut down some trees, hewed them into logs, and built a small log-cabin as a temporary home. While this was being done, the nearest neighbor, several miles distant, sheltered the family.
When the cabin was completed, and everything made comfortable within, Mr. Gray returned to Cleveland to seek employment. He was something of a carpenter as well as a farmer, and succeeded in securing work at this trade.
Every Saturday night he walked ten miles to Parma, and returned Monday morning in order to be with his family over the Sabbath. Mean- while, his brave wife was piling and burning brush, doing everything her strength would admit in clearing up the farm.
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For two years a building boom was on in Cleveland, and Mr. Gray secured contracts to erect houses and stores. This soon enabled him to bring his family into town, and thereafter when he visited his farm, it was no longer reached on "Shank's mare."
In 1838, his youngest brother, Joseph W. Gray, came on from Madrid, taught in the old Academy on St. Clair street for a year or two, and in 1842 the brothers bought the Cleveland Commercial Advertiser. To A. N. Gray was due the change of name that soon occurred.
"I do not like the name of this paper," remarked Joseph. "Neither 'do I," replied his brother. They agreed to each have in mind one that would be more satisfactory. A. N. Gray hit upon
"PLAIN DEALER."
"The very thing!" exclaimed Joseph Gray, and from that day, 72 years ago, to this one, "Plain Dealer" it has been.
Admiral N. Gray had other business interests than that of pub- lisher. He became a receiver, cutter, and shipper of railroad iron. His identification with this commodity gave him among his associates the name "Iron Gray."
Mr. Gray bought a large lot on Garden street, now Central Ave., be- tween Perry and Sterling avenues. The land ran back to Cedar Avenue. Mrs. Roxanna Gray was fond of flowers, and as there was plenty of room, she cultivated many varieties and in great profusion.
Admiral N. Gray died in 1852, aged 59 years. His wife survived him 36 years, being 88 years old at the time of her death. Mrs. Whitney, the mother of Mrs. Gray, made her home with her daughter for many years, dying at an advanced age. The family burial-lot was in Erie street ceme- tery.
The children of Admiral and Roxanna Gray :
Charlotte Gray, died unmarried aged 58.
Roman H. Gray, unmarried, major of a regiment in the civil war.
Helen Gray, m. John S. Stevenson ; removed to Iowa.
Persia Gray, m. Joseph Bartlett, for many years city treasurer.
Arthur P. Gray, m. Ella Howe. He resides on La Grange street, city.
1833
CHILDS
An interesting story written by an American author has for its title, "The Revolt of Mother." It is a modern tale, but the pith of it is ancient lore. It can be found at intervals in all pioneer history. Cleveland ham- let and village possessed several intrepid wives and mothers whose firm stand in domestic crises saved the day for their families.
One such woman was Mrs. Herrick Childs, who in 1833, with her
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three little ones, the youngest a babe of six months, accompanied her husband from Deerfield, Mass., to Cleveland. The family was en route for Chicago, but worn out with the long journey by canal-boat and stage- coach, and harassed by the continuous discomforts, and sometimes priva- tion suffered by her babes, Mrs. Childs concluded to end it all at once, by refusing to proceed another step. The ultimatum to Cleveland was far-reaching in its results. It gave to it a family name that for 80 years has been as familiar locally as that of the city itself. Mrs. Childs was Selina Buckingham, daughter of Nathan and Selina Lewis Buckingham, and a direct descendant of Thomas Buckingham of Milford, Conn., 1627.
Herrick Childs was 30 years of age when he came to Cleveland, and had been married four years. He was the son of David Wright Childs of Conway, Mass. His name appears in the first little directory of the city, and his residence was 44 Huron street, a beautiful street in early days, and lined with big maple trees. Later the Childs family moved to Euclid avenue. The homestead there was recently torn down and the site is now occupied by the western addition to Halle Brothers Com- pany store.
The sons of the family were all active, enterprising business men of the city, whose names when connected with any measure of finance or of public affairs ensured its value and stability. Oscar A. Childs, the oldest of the brothers, had many business interests other than that of the big wholesale house that bore his name. He was one of the promoters of the Northern Ohio Fair, a director of the Mercantile Bank, and a founder of the Union Club of which he was the president at the time of his death, Sept., 1881.
Always interested in the growth of the city which had been his home from infancy, he was prompt to co-operate in every movement toward its advancement, and liberally donated to all its leading charities. The beautiful home in which he lived and died stood in the center of a spa- cious lot on the south-east corner of Prospect and Perry streets. The Y. M. C. A. building, recently erected, now completely covers the lot. Mr. Childs' widow and daughters reside on East 63rd street near Euclid avenue.
Edwin D. Childs was treasurer of the Kilby Manufacturing Com- pany. He died at the age of 74, respected and loved by all who knew him. His home was on Euclid avenue, near 76th st., where his widow still resides.
Henry Buckingham Childs, head of the wholesale shoe firm of Childs, Groff & Co., died in 1898 in middle age. He was a prominent member of Trinity church for many years. His family reside at 3206 Prospect street.
Charles Childs, the only surviving brother, resides in New York City, where he is connected with the Standard Oil Co.
The children of Herrick and Selina B. Childs :
Euphema Childs, born in Deerfield, William Childs, born in Deerfield, Mass., 1830; m. William Stand- ard of Cleveland. Mass .; died in early manhood. Oscar A. Childs, born 1833; married
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CLARK
1st, Martha Searle; 2nd, Mary Edwards, daughter of Elisha and Eunice Lombard Edwards, and sister of the late Col. William R. Edwards.
Charles Childs, born in Cleveland; m. Laura Glessner, of Mansfield, Ohio.
George Childs, died in youth.
Edwin D. Childs, b. 1839; m. Lucy
Chamberlain, dau. of Philo and Emily Pelton Chamberlain.
Henry B. Childs, b. 1842; m. Carrie M. Iddings.
Martha Buckingham Childs, m. John H. Johnston, of Lima, Peru, S. A., a civil engineer and mining expert. Mrs. Johnston is yet liv- ing.
1833
CLARK
In the Cleveland Herald of 1834 appeared the following marriage no- tice: "At Colchester, Conn., October 11, by Dr. Lyman Strong, D. D., James F. Clark, of the house of Potter, Clark & Murphey, to Miss Eliza A. Murphey, daughter of Capt. John Murphey of the latter place."
James Freeman Clark came the previous year from Albany, where he had been working for Rawdon, Wright & Co., engravers. Out of this firm grew eventually the American Bank Note Company.
Mr. Clark was twenty-four years old when he reached the city. His parents were Cyrus and Annie Trumbull Clark, of Cooperstown, N. Y. His mother was a niece of Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, the "Brother Jonathan" of American history.
Mr. Clark was a singularly refined, dignified man. His face was more that of a scholar than a merchant, and his later years were spent in his library and in the companionship of his books.
After selling his hardware interests he became closely identified with the railroads that made Cleveland a terminus, and also was associated with local banks and dealt in real-estate, all of which made him a very wealthy man. He is said to have been upright, straightforward, with his word always as good as his bond.
When but 27 years of age he became an elder in the Old Stone Church, an office he filled for many long years.
The family lived at first on the Public Square. The house adjoined that of C. M. Giddings and faced the south. Afterward a home was built on Euclid Ave. Here Mr. and Mrs. Clark died.
They had no children of their own, but took into their hearts two little sisters, one of whom in turn made the last years of the aged couple fragrant with filial love and tenderness.
The following is all the writer can find of Mr. Clark's partner in the hardware business:
"At Basking Ridge, N. J., on the 29th ult.,-August, 1855-Mr. Sam- uel H. Potter of the firm. of Potter & Clark of this village, to Miss Emily Van Deren of the former place." (Cleveland Herald.)
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1833
FOOTE
In 1833 the little community received a notable addition through the arrival of a distinguished couple from Cheshire, Conn. The husband was the son of a governor of Connecticut, the wife a daughter of an old Cheshire family, and they had been married six years. It may be cer- tain that the first Sabbath Mr. and Mrs. John Alfred Foote walked into the Old Stone Church every member of the congregation assembled "took notice." Each and all had heard of the new arrivals and what an acquisi- tion to the town and the church they would be; so there was much inter- est and innocent curiosity.
What they saw was a fine-looking man about 30 years of age, and a pretty, attractive young woman six years his junior, who met the atten- tion they received with quiet ease, and, after the services were over, gracefully responded to the formal welcome of Rev. John Keep and to the introductions that followed.
Henceforth, for 22 years, Mrs. Frances Amelia Foote was not only a church member but a church worker. The first impression she made upon every one was that of a womanly woman, unusually well bred. She was kind and considerate in all her dealings with others whatever their station in life. Her father was Judge Silas Hitchcock of Cheshire, Conn. One of her sisters and a brother afterward located in Cleveland, and another sister died in Elyria, Ohio.
John A. Foote was the son of Gov. Samuel Foote. His mother was Eudosia Hull, daughter of Gen. Andrew Hull of Cheshire. Another son of Gov. Foote became an admiral of the navy, and still another one, Augustus, resided in Cleveland later, and both he and his wife died here. Their home was on Ontario street north of St. Clair.
The career of John A. Foote before he came to Cleveland, and his 68 years of life in our midst have been the theme of many a legal and his- torical sketch, so that nothing can be said concerning him that has not already been told, and in a more interesting and convincing way than is possible to the present writer. Cleveland was proud of his citizenship from the time he arrived until his death in 1891. And there was no muni- cipal or state honor that could not have been his for the asking. A grad- uate of Yale, he practised law for six years in New Haven, Conn., and his first Cleveland partner was significant of his future-Judge Sher- lock Andrews-who never would have associated himself with a man other than of the finest legal talent.
Mr. Foote stood for everything that was highest and best, irrespec- tive of public opinion. His life-long efforts for temperance legislation at a time when the cause was not popular shows the temper and con- science of the man. The suffering attending unrestricted sale of liquor was a constant appeal to his sympathies and sense of justice. He died, however, before the day when a saloon could not be started in the heart of a fine residence district despite all protest, or under the shadow of college walls. At the organization of the Second Presbyterian Church, he became one of its elders.
The Foote family lived on St. Clair street below Bank for a number of years, and then followed many of their nearest neighbors to Wood- land ave., that attractive thoroughfare of the '60s, whose pretty homes
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GAYLORD
and cultured residents have become almost legendary since the last of the old families fled before trade and other adverse conditions.
Mrs. Frances Foote died aged 46 years, and three years later Mr. Foote married Mary Shepler Hemperly, widow of A. D. Cutter, a promi- nent business man, and early merchant of the city.
The children of John A. and Frances Foote:
Samuel A. Foote, b. 1829; unmar- ried.
Laura C. Foote, b. 1831; m. Charles A. Ely of Elyria.
Mary Eudocia Foote, m. Morgan E. Maynard of Marquette, Mich.
Cornelia Foote, m. Gardiner May- nard, a cousin of above.
John A. Foote, Jr., m. Miss Belle Palmer, adopted daughter of Au- gustus Foote.
Andrew and Frances Foote, died in infancy.
There are no descendants of this family bearing the name now living in Cleveland. John A. Foote, Jr., and his family have been living abroad for many years. While in the city he had a large wholesale and retail crockery store.
Mrs. W. D. Rees, 3625 Euclid ave., is a daughter of Mrs. M. E. Maynard, and granddaughter of Hon. John A. Foote, Sr.
1833
GAYLORD
The name of Gaylord was a familiar one in Cleveland from the very early days when Capt. Allen Gaylord, his parents, and sisters came here from Connecticut.
In 1833, two brothers of the same name and distantly related, also came from Connecticut to become citizens of this town. They were Eras- tus F. and Henry L. Gaylord, sons of Nehemiah and Esther Stevens Gaylord of Torringford, Conn. Erastus had previously been a mer- chant of Cornwall, Conn., and was 38 years old when he came west. In 1832 he married Lucetta Cleveland, daughter of Gen. Erastus and Rebecca Berry Cleveland. She was born in Madison, N. Y., in 1801, and, there- fore, was 32 the year she reached Cleveland.
Her father held a commission as Brigadier-General in the war of 1812, and was in command of Sackett's Harbor and Oswego at different times. In civil life he was a judge of common pleas court. Her grand- father, Lieut. Moses Cleveland, of Norwich, Conn., served in the Revo- lutionary army all through the eight years of that conflict. He was a cousin of Moses Cleveland, founder of this city.
Erastus F. Gaylord opened a grocery and drug-store at 30 Superior street with A. F. Strickland as partner, and afterward with his brother, Henry Gaylord.
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GAYLORD
In time the grocery department was eliminated, and "Gaylord's Drug Store," as years passed, became a familiar landmark of the city. His son continued the business until his death in 1893, a period of 60 years.
The family lived on Seneca street the first three years of their resi- dence. Mr. Gaylord then built a fine brick house on the north side of Prospect Ave., now replaced by the westerly 60 feet of the Colonial Hotel. In 1845 he purchased the Dr. David Long residence on Kinsman street, now Woodland Ave., a large stone house and 171/2 acres of land running through to Garden street, now Central Ave.
Mrs. Gaylord was a woman who inherited in a marked degree the strong characteristics of her father, and the gentle Christian traits of her mother. She was a lover of reading and remarkably well informed in literary matters. Her hospitality was of the broadest type, and her house was never without one or more visitors. The products of the land were never 'sold, but were given with a lavish hand to the needy among the new immigrants settling in that part of the city. No one was ever sent away empty-handed or hungry, and if any one was known to be ill or suffering she was on hand to help and comfort. Her charming man- ner made her a most gracious hostess. The social gatherings in her beautiful home were frequent, and the callers on New Year's day accord- ing to the old custom, were many. Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary in 1873, and their 60th anniversary in 1883.
Mrs. Gaylord was a member of the 1st Presbyterian Church until the first year of the organization of the 2nd Presbyterian Church, when she transferred to it. When a branch of the Sunday School was founded in the Mayflower street school building, she had charge of the infant class, and many of the business men of today (1914) sat under her teaching.
Children of Erastus and Lucetta Cleveland Gaylord :
Sarah Berry Gaylord, m. Dr. John S. Newberry.
Henry Cleveland Gaylord, m. Cath- erine Hilliard.
Charles D. Gaylord, m. Josephine Scowden.
Harriet R. Gaylord, m. 1st, George C. Hammond; 2nd, Dr. C. G. Smith.
Henry C. Gaylord was a college graduate, a close student, and a skillful pharmacist. He was a member of the famous "Ark" and an intimate associate of many of the older business men of his age. He was 67 at the time of his death. His wife, Catherine Hilliard Gaylord, was a daughter of the pioneer merchant Richard Hilliard, and at her wedding in Trinity Church its chimes of bells were first rung for any oc- casion.
Mrs. Charles D. Gaylord was the daughter of Theodore and Rosetta Stuart Scowden. Her parents built a home on Willson Ave., now East 55th street, in an early day. It set back from the road and was sur- rounded by forest and fruit-trees. Lexington Ave. was begun through the garden on the south side of the house. The latter is now reached from Lexington Ave. and for many years was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord. The latter died in 1912.
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1833
GARDNER
Alonzo Sherwin Gardner was born in Cleveland, the grandson of Amihaaz Sherwin, of the East End. In 1833 at the age of 24 years, he married Adeline Doan, 19 years of age. She was the only daughter of Seth and Lucy Clark Doan. She lost her mother at four years of age, and was raised by Joanna Wickham Doan, her father's second wife.
Alonzo S. Gardner had an enviable reputation. All his life he was considered a perfectly honest man, who could be trusted in all business affairs. He had a grocery store at 66 Superior street, but in the panic of 1837 closed it, and afterward opened again in the crockery business which he carried on for many years. Both he and his wife died in 1892.
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