USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. II > Part 8
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Three of her sons and her son-in-law, John H. Rees, served their country in the civil war, consequently Mrs. Warner and her daughter, Lydia Warner Rees, were greatly interested in the work of the Sani- tary Commission and in the hospitals here and in the field of action, giving to them much of their time, strength, and means.
For several years previous to her death, in 1882, Mrs. Warner was an invalid. Mr. Warner outlived his wife but a year, dying in 1883. They rest in Lake View cemetery. The family lived for a time at 192 St. Clair street, and afterward No. 80 Prospect street, near Erie street.
436
1831
WILSON
The children of Warham and Jane Morse Warner:
Lydia E. Warner, b. 1834, at Black
Rock, N. Y .; m. John Hopkins Rees.
Andrew Warner, b. 1836, in Cleve- land.
Charles H. Warner, b. 1838; m.
Catherine Moore, dau. of Capt. Robert Moore.
Ann Eliza Warner, b. 1840.
Edward Seth Warner, M. D., b. 1842.
Theodore Morse Warner, b. 1844; m. Alice Kennedy.
Frederick Sperry Warner, b. 1846; m. Agnes Morris, dau. of John Morris.
James Warham Warner, b. 1848.
1831
WILSON
John Wilson came to Cleveland from Sacket's Harbor or Oswego, N. Y., in 1831, expecting to fit out and run a hotel on the corner of Su- perior and Merwin streets, but he died of cholera either before his plans were matured or soon afterward, leaving six orphan children. The mother, Ann Aram Wilson, died in Oswego, N. Y., the year the family re- moved to Cleveland. She was born 1786, in England. Her parents were Joseph and Margaret Aram of Green Hammerton, Eng. Her fa- ther died in 1803, and in 1806, her mother with her children left Hull on the "Indian Chief," which was 62 days in making the passage to New York. The mother died in 1821, aged 83 years, and was interred in On- tario Co., N. Y.
The six children of John and Ann Wilson, left thus alone in a strange city, must have received sympathy from some source, as they all lived to maturity.
Two of them removed to a western state, while it was yet in its in- fancy, and grew up with it.
The children of John and Ann Aram Wilson :
Martha Wilson, married George Tie- bout. Joseph Wilson, removed to Minne- sota. Frank Wilson, removed to Minne- sota. Mary Wilson, died unmarried, in 1863.
Margaret Wilson, born 1821; mar- ried W. V. Craw.
Thomas Wilson, m. Laura Root, daughter of Herod and Laura Hurlbut Root. Thomas Wilson was agent of the "Three C.'s & I. R. R." for 37 years. He left two children, Clinton and Jean Wilson, now residing in Kansas City and Chicago.
437
1831
STICKLAND
Aaron Stickland of Ashford, Conn., came to Cleveland, and opened a drug-store at 30 Superior street, in 1831. Two years later he took in partnership Erastus F. Gaylord, who had just arrived from the east, and the following year his younger brother Henry L. Gaylord.
This business connection lasted about two years, when Mr. Stickland withdrew.
The Sticklands were boarding at the Franklin House in 1837. Five years later he died, aged 51.
His wife, Polly Stickland, who was born the same year as her hus- band, outlived him 35 years, dying at an advanced age.
Mr. Stickland, at his death, left his property in charge of Mr. Erastus Gaylord for the benefit of Mrs. Polly Stickland for the remainder of her life, thus safe-guarding it, and ensuring to her a comfortable support. There were no children in the family.
The Sticklands rest in Erie street cemetery to the right of the main drive, and a monument marks the spot.
1832 MEECH
Gurdon Meech of Bozrah, Conn., came to Cleveland in 1832. His wife, Lucy Swan, daughter of Deacon Adam and Lucy Spicer Swan, was born in Stonington, Conn., and after her marriage lived in Bozrah many years.
Her daughter Lucy was married to Jabez Gallup two years before, and had preceded them to Cleveland, and the youngest one, Martha Meech, was 9 years old.
Mr. Gallup was living on Water street, where Childs, Groff & Co.'s store now stands, and with him the family remained for six weeks, mean- while making preparation for a home of their own as soon as possible. But they were all taken very ill with fever and ague, and Mr. Meech abandoned his plans of living in Cleveland, and gladly accepted Mr. Gal- lup's proposition to take possession of a small log-house that stood on a farm he owned in Newburgh. In this they lived until the purchase of one from Theodore Miles, standing on the old Newburgh road at its junction with Woodland Hills Ave. Afterward a railroad passed close to the house.
Mrs. Meech, small, slender, slim, had been the oldest of her family, and unused to hardship of any kind, and, arriving much later than many of her neighbors, never experienced their earlier hardships. But even so, things were quite different in Ohio, and much required of her that she would not have encountered in the old home. Her first new experience was in handling a gun, never having shot one in her life. But an owl was after her chickens, and with much trepidation she took down her husband's weapon and fired at it. It fell, but she was afraid to go near it until Mr. Meech returned.
Mr. Meech had a farm well stocked for those days, and it suffered greatly in the grasshopper scourge that, one summer, swept over Ohio.
438
1832
MEECH
The insects came after currants and cherries had ripened, but there was no fruit or grain of any kind after that. There were no apples, the main stay of housewives, consequently little sauce for a year, and no mince-pies, that much-prized dessert of early days. The women, ever resourceful, stewed up the dried pumpkin left over from the year previous, and spar- ingly flavored it with boiled cider, also a left-over.
Following the example of his neighbors, Mr. Meech killed off all his cattle except a cow. One morning, he came into the house from the barn, and sitting down by the fire began to weep. Mrs. Meech saw the tears tricking silently down his cheeks, begged him to tell her what troubled him so.
"My poor horses have asked me for something to eat, and I haven't a thing to give them," he exclaimed.
But that day, a friend in the city sent word by his hired man that a vessel had arrived in the river with a load of wet rye which could be used for feed. His hungry horses were soon hitched up, and in no time he was on his way for some of that rye. This was early in the spring, but soon after the grass began to get high enough for stock to nibble, and the worst of the famine was over.
Mr. and Mrs. Gurdon Meech had 9 children of their own, and adopted 7 children who were either orphans or with parents too poor to support them. Several were taken by the request of dying mothers, and tenderly cared for until able to face life unaided. One of these, a girl, married in Connecticut, and removed to Liverpool, O. Hearing that her benefactors were in Cleveland, she came to visit them, and although 40 years had passed since their last meeting, they recognized each other at once.
Another, a boy, followed them from Bozrah. He afterward worked for Seaman & Smith, for years, making shoes by hand.
Yet another boy was given a profession, became a celebrated physi- cian, and today his grandchildren are living on the old Meech place in Bozrah.
The Meech children were:
Lucy Meech, m. Jabez Gallup. Angeline Meech, m. Calvin Parker. Abigail Meech, m. Dr. Smith.
Eliza Meech, m. Henry Blair.
Juliette Meech, m. Isham Morgan. Nelson Meech, m. Eliza Quiggan. Martha Meech, m. O. M. Burke. Olive Meech, died unmarried.
1832
SPENCER
The year 1832 added a large element of strong, conscientious, gifted men, and refined, spiritual women, who greatly reinforced the religious and intellectual life of the village. One of the former was Thomas Phelps Spencer, who came from Hartford, Conn., and with Horace Can- field started a printing establishment.
439
1832
SPENCER
He was the son of John and Mary Adams Spencer, and born 1809 in Hartford. His mother was a remarkable woman, one of great strength of mind, and fervent piety. Mr. John Spencer died, leaving her with eleven children. The youngest of these, Barzilla and Rosilla Spencer, were twin daughters but three years of age, and the one next to them was a little blind brother.
When we reflect that the accumulated cares of such a household rested upon her widowed head, and that she raised all those 11 children to be- come good and useful men and women, it behooves her descendants to look upon her as an ancestress fully as heroic as any revolutionary forbear, and equally as deserving of respect and reverence. She was a sweet, digni- fied, lady-like woman, with a keen, but soft dark eye, an erect figure, and a graceful carriage. We dwell upon this mother because she died in our midst, stricken down with cholera in 1852, while on a visit here with her son and his family. She lies in Erie street cemetery.
T. P. Spencer was an ardent Democrat in his political faith, and in 1834 he and his partners bought the Cleveland Advertiser, which had been a Whig paper, and at once made of it a Democrat organ. Within four years their success with it justified them into turning it from a weekly to a daily paper. It was the small parent of the present Plain Dealer giant, with its great circulation. In 1841, Canfield and Spencer sold the Advertiser to the Gray brothers, who changed its name, but not its politics.
After the sale of the Advertiser, Mr. Spencer continued in the book and job-printing business. Mr. Horace Canfield returned east. At that time Mr. Spencer was postmaster of the city. He went into the manufacturing business, and previous to his death in 1885, was connected with the Waterworks department.
The inauguration of President Grover Cleveland gave him great hap- piness. He was as enthusiastic as a boy, declaring that the account of it in the evening paper hal almost made him weep. He walked briskly home from the office that day, erect and vigorous, as usual, and dropped dead early the next morning. He was a genial man, of sunny temperament, who had scores of friends who felt deeply his loss.
Timothy Phelps Spencer married Elisabeth Reeve, dau. of the pioneer John Reeve. She passed away from earth just 10 years previous to her husband's death.
The children of T. P. and Elisabeth Reeve Spencer:
T. Reeve Spencer, b. 1838; died 1867.
Rosella Stewart Spencer, b. 1842; married William H. Kelley, young- est son of Irad Kelley.
Annie Elisabeth Spencer, b. 1845;
m. Charles Long Cutter, son of A. D. Cutter.
Mary Adams Spencer, b. 1855; died in Cleveland, 1896.
Fannie Spencer, b. 1859; died in Cleveland, 1880.
The sudden death of their only son, Capt. T. Reeve Spencer, was a severe blow to his parents and sisters. His life promised much to all his
440
1832
WHITELAW
friends. He had served his country throughout the civil war, and at the time of his death by yellow fever was Deputy Collector of Internal Rev- enue. His district was on Lake Ponchartrain, 60 miles north of New Or- leans. Reeve Spencer was an amiable young man, of sterling integrity, and fine business capacity.
1832
WHITELAW
For 60 years, George Whitelaw walked, to and fro, on Superior street between the Public Square and Water street. In 1832, as a young man of 24 years, he stepped, with due caution, upon short boards nailed across two parallel lines of scantling. Sometimes a board would loosen and one end fly up to trip the unwary. Ten years later he trod upon long, heavy planks running lengthwise. These were more serviceable, and lasted a long time. Finally, when his locks had begun to whiten, he marched proudly along on Cleveland's first stone pavement, and, doubt- less, felt that, at last, all his predictions of the city's future greatness were being fulfilled.
He was nearing the end of his life time of fourscore years and four when, in 1892, he walked slowly along the familiar path for the last time.
Did he pause to recall the days when his first modest home was one of several frame houses, behind low picket fences, that lined the south side of the street below the American? Or the similar ones above it, interspersed by small stores and a blacksmith-shop, all of the way to the Public Square ?
There were many dwellings of varying sizes and shapes on the north side of the street also. But that locality boasted two village taverns, and a bank, in addition to the little stores that grew in number and size, year by year, crowding out the pioneer homes. In these latter lived the Scovils, the Crittendens, the Levi Johnsons, the Weddells, the Ross families, the Rev. Breck, and the Rouses.
Below the Whitelaws were Moses White, the Stockwells, and the Mer- wins. Above them were the Walworths, the Irad Kelleys, the two Bliss families, the first homes of John Willey and Joshua Mills, and the stone edifice of Dr. Long.
George Whitelaw and his twin-brothers were born in Haddington, Scotland, in 1808. They were of a family of 11 children, the parents of whom were John and Agnes Robertson Whitelaw, who lived and died in Haddington.
In May, 1832, George Whitelaw started for America, and in seven weeks the vessel upon which he sailed reached our Atlantic coast, and be- fore stretched the long land-journey which brought him to Cleveland. The same month, six years later, he married Anna Fayerweather of Bos- ton. She was the daughter of John and Anna Wayland Fayerweather, and was born near Bridgeport, Conn.
.
441
1832
STAIR
For 20 years Mr. Whitelaw was a partner of George F. Marshall in the saddlery and leather business, and from 1858 to 1890, with E. S. Root in the wholesale leather trade. "Root & Whitelaw" was a firm known all over the state.
George Whitelaw founded the Scotch Presbyterian church of Cleve- land, and laid the corner-stone of its edifice on Carnegie Ave., corner of E. 72nd street. He also founded the St. Andrew society, the first charitable society in the city, and was its president many years.
Although so well known, he seldom entered public life. Twice only he served in the city council when his services were especially needed.
Mrs. Whitelaw was connected with Old Trinity church when it stood on St. Clair street, corner of Seneca. She sang for its services there, and continued a member of the choir long after the removal of the church to its location on Superior street. She was an active worker in all Trinity church activities, and a charter member of the board of management that founded the Church Home on Prospect st. She was an invalid for some years previous to her death, which occurred in 1893. The George Whitelaw family lived on Willson Ave., corner of Sibley, for 30 years.
The children :
John Fayerweather Whitelaw, b. 1839; died at his residence, 2536 Euclid ave., June, 1912; married 1st, Alice Hill, dau. of T. O. Hill. She died 1864. Married 2nd, Al- ma Paige of Painesville, O. She
died 1873. Married 3rd, Mary Eliza Cooper, dau. of George Cooper.
Anna Wayland Whitelaw, died 1845. Mary Augusta Whitelaw.
1832
STAIR
John Stair of Redding, England, was a schoolmaster. He married a Miss Adams, and had three sons, John, William, and James Stair. Two of these sons emigrated to Australia and prospered. To this day their posterity have corresponded with their Cleveland cousins.
Mrs. Stair died, and Mr. John Stair married 2nd, Miss Martha Green, a well-bred and well-educated lady. She was one of a large family of children. Her brother, Nathaniel Green, was an artist, and instructed the children of the royal household at Balmoral in drawing and paint- ing. In late life, when visited by Mr. and Mrs. John Stair of Cleveland, he was found living in fine style in London, surrounded by the residences of fa- mous artists and scholars.
Mr. John Stair and his wife, Martha Green Stair, had six children born in England. When the youngest was six months old the family came to America in company with two other families who were their neigh- bors and friends. One was that of John Reeve, father of Dr. John Reeve, and grandfather of Mrs. Charles L. Cutter. Martha Green Stair, the eldest
442
1832
STAIR
daughter, was left behind that she might finish her education. When Mr. Stair and his family arrived in Cleveland, the ravages of cholera in town caused them to seek safety in Newburgh, where they lived on a farm for some time.
Returning to Cleveland, Mr. Stair opened a private and classical school for boys on Pittsburgh street, now Broadway. In 1845 he had given up teaching as a profession, and entered the grain and seed busi- ness, one that had been started by J. G. Stockley at 93 Superior street. The firm name was "Stair & Son," the "son" being the oldest child of the family.
The new undertaking proved a fortunate one, and "Stairs' seed-store" became famous all over the state. It was located on Ontario street. A. C. Kendal succeeded Mr. Stair in the business.
Mr. and Mrs. Stair were greatly respected and warmly welcomed by the social element of the town. Mr. Stair was very optimistic and of a happy, cheerful temperament. At first Mrs. Stair was very homesick for her native land. While living in Newburgh she had some guinea hens whose peculiar cry sounded like, "Go back, go back !"
"It is easy to tell me that!" she exclaimed, one day, "but how am I to do it?"
She was very kind-hearted and a natural nurse. Dr. Cushing, Sr., soon discovered this talent, and often begged her services when there was seri- ous illness in some poor household. It was not unusual for Mrs. Stair to be away from her home all night, attending to the needs of some young mother in her hour of peril, or nursing a very sick child, all without any remuneration, save the love and gratitude of those she ministered to.
Alas! the generation of dear, unselfish women who lost sleep and rest in personal services to their neighbors has long passed by. The trained nurse with prohibitive wages or a charity one is now the only choice of a household poor in purse, but rich in dignity and self-respect.
The children of John and Martha Stair:
Benjamin Stair, died unmarried. He was his father's partner in the seed business.
Martha Stair, became an invalid, and after 14 years of patient suf- fering died unmarried.
Edwin Stair, m. Marcia Lucia Cobb. She lost her own life in her devo- tion to her husband in his last illness, and survived him but a few days.
Thomas Stair, died aged 15 years. Mary Stair, lived to old age unmar- ried. Samuel Stair, b. 1831; m. Alice Healy Caffee of Newark, O. Fisher Stair.
Emily Stair, born in Cleveland; m. Benjamin Franklin, a Newark, O., banker.
Edwin and Marcia Stair had two sons and a daughter, Mrs. Lucia Curtis. Frank Stair was connected with the Brainard music-store for many years. Harry Stair married Miss Belle Beirce, and died leaving two young sons, and a little daughter.
Samuel and Alice Stair have two talented children. A son, Leslie Dalrymple Stair, who lives in Chicago, and a daughter, Miss Patty Stair, a well-known Cleveland musician.
443
1832
REEVE
John Reeve of England came to Cleveland in 1832. He was 44 years of age, and his wife, Sarah Reeve, also a native of England, was 34 years old.
They brought with them to this city six children, and another one was born here four years later. Mrs. Reeve's life in Cleveland was very short. She died in 1838, and was buried in Erie street cemetery.
The father married secondly, Catherine Jones, and a daughter was born to them in 1845, who died-no date-in Columbus, O.
The family lived on Michigan street, and were near neighbors of John W. Willey, the attorney and first mayor of Cleveland.
John Reeve died in 1852, and was buried by the mother of his chil- dren. They were:
William Reeve, b. 1819; died 1836. Elisabeth Reeve, b. 1821; m. T. P. Spencer of Cleveland.
Dr. John Charles Reeve, b. 1826; m. Emma G. Barlow. Dr. Reeve re- sides in Dayton, O.
Margaret Reeve, b. 1828; m. Homer Moffett. She died in Cleveland, 1865.
Charlotte Reeve, b. 1829; died 1852. Edwin Reeve, b. 1830; died 1873;
m. Alice Oliver of Euclid, O. His name is inscribed on the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the Public Square as a veteran of the civil war.
Henry Reeve, born in Cleveland, 1836; died at Dayton, O., in 1860.
1834
POPULATION ABOUT 2000
Very dull year for business. 43 canal boats laid up. Steamers com- ing from Buffalo without a barrel of freight. The Cleveland Herald asks, "What has become of the immense number of boxes, bales, etc., which we have been accustomed to see crowding our wharfs in such confusion as wholly to preclude the practicability of a passage from warehouse to warehouse? Why should our wharves which once were the scene of so much bustle and life and activity now exhibit so dull and lifeless an aspect ?"
Cholera broke out again in the late fall of this year, and there were many deaths from it in this town and in the surrounding country. A very pitiful incident connected with the scourge took place on a canal passen- ger boat bound for Akron, O. Mrs. Joanna Brown, wife of a New York merchant, was aboard with her infant child when she was stricken with the cholera in the night. Her sufferings were intense, and the terrified passengers were obliged to hear her moans and cries of distress without being able to give her any relief. She died as the canal-boat neared Akron.
The winter of 1834 was marked by unusually heavy snow-storms. Snow covered the roads throughout the season. All sorts of conveyances
444
1834 LOCAL ITEMS
were put upon runners and the sound of sleigh-bells, and even cow and sheep-bells, were heard continuously.
Although not a Cleveland record, the following item is of national interest :
The State of Ohiol ss. Geauga County.
Personally appeared Brigham Young and made application for a mar- riage-license for himself and Mary Ann Angel of the township of Kirtland in said county, and made solemn oath that he, the said Brigham Young, is of age of twenty-one years, and the said Mary Ann Angel is of the age of eighteen years, that they are both single, and not nearer of kin than first cousins; that he knows of no legal impediment against their being joined in marriage. Brigham Young.
Sworn and subscribed, this tenth day of February, 1834, before me, RALPH COWLES, Dep. Clerk.
Elizabeth Gaylord, through her guardian Leonard Case, offers lot 10 rods square for sale on Lake street.
L. W. Dickson, merchant on Superior street, advertises his dry- goods. His wife, Matilda Isabell Dickson, died the following year, and lies in Erie street cemetery. His name is not in the city directory of 1845.
Died, "Emulous B. Johnson of Saybrook, Conn., of cholera, 27 years old." (Erie st. cemetery.)
Died, Esther, wife of Samuel Clampitt, formerly of New Jersey, lately of Philadelphia. (Erie street cemetery.)
Theron and Esther Strong Freeman die, perhaps of cholera, leaving minor children. Samuel S. mentioned as one of them. Thomas Strong and Charity Fuller are appointed administrators of the estate.
Previous to this year there were but 15 German families residing in town. They were mostly of the Protestant faith, and in 1834 they organ- ized a society which received the name of "GERMAN Evangelical Protes- tant Church."
It was a small band of Christians whose mother-tongue was still more familiar than that of their adopted home, and doubtless very little of the services which they previously had attended in other churches had been fully understood. This first little German society must, therefore, have been very dear to its members.
They met, at first, in the old Bethel building near the corner of Water and Superior street hill, and afterward in a little school-house on St. Clair street.
Two-thirds of Euclid Avenue below Erie street was yet adorned on either side with rail-fences.
445
1834
SARGEANT
From Cleveland Advertiser ELOPEMENT
"Whereas, my wife Jane Ann has this day left my bed, and board, without any just cause or provocation, this is, therefore, to forbid all persons harboring or trusting her on my account, as I shall pay no debts of her contracting after this date.
Justin Meeker, Cleveland, Dec. 24-1834."
"Whereas, my kind and loving better half has seen fit to post me from his bed, and board, I would take the liberty to inform the public that he never had any board to my knowledge, and as for harboring and trusting me he need have no fear, for no one would do it on his account.
If he will not trouble me, no one will trouble him.
Jane Ann Meeker, Jan. 15-1835."
1834 SARGEANT
There were four men by the name of Sargeant who lived in Cleveland, off and on, after 1834.
They were William, doing business at one time as a merchant on Su- perior street, Jacob, Samuel, and Joseph Sargeant.
The last two came from Middlebury, Vermont, their native place, and were children of Joseph and Lucretia Williams Sargeant.
Jacob Sargeant had a daughter Nancy who married W. S. Pierson of Hartford, Conn., and her daughter married Judge Rufus Spaulding, the well-known jurist of the city and state. She was a very striking-looking woman, and to the day of her death clung to the fashion of wearing her hair in three puffs each side of her face. She was much loved and ad- mired by a large circle of friends.
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