ASHTABULA COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY (Part 4) (published 1898)
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO, By Henry Howe, LL.D., 1898

        The First Regular Settlement made within the present limits of the
county was at Harpersfield, on the 7th of March, 1798. Alexander Harper,
Wm. M'Farland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, started from
Harpersfield, Delaware county, N.Y., and after a long and fatiguing journey
arrived on the last of June, at their new homes in the wilderness. This
little colony of about twenty persons endured much privation in the first
few months of their residence. The whole population of the Reserve amounted
to less than 150 souls, viz.: ten families at Youngstown, three at
Cleveland and two at Mentor. In the same summer three families came to
Burton, and Judge Hudson settled at Hudson

PIONEER TRIALS - Cut short of their expected supplies of provision for the
winter by the loss of a vessel they had chartered for that purpose, the
little colony came near perishing by famine, having at one time been
reduced to six kernels of parched corn to each person; but they were saved
by the intrepidity of the sons of Col. Harper, James and William. These
young men made frequent journeys to Elk Creek, PA., from which they packed
on their backs bags of corn, which was about all the provision the settlers
had to sustain life during a long and tedious winter. Some few of their
journeys were performed on the ice of Lake Erie, whenever it was
sufficiently strong to bear them, which was seldom. On the first occasion
of this kind they were progressing finely on the ice, when their sled broke
through the water. A third person who happened to be with them at this time
exclaimed. "What shall we do?" "Let it go" James replied. "No!" exclaimed
William, who was of a different temperament, "you go into the woods and
strike a fire while I get the grain." He then with great difficulty secured
the grain by which operation he got completely wet through, and a cutting
wind soon converted his clothing into a sheet of ice. He then went in
search of his companions and was disappointed in finding they had no built
a fire. The truth was, they had grown so sleepy with the intense cold as to
be unable to strike fire. He soon had a cheerful blaze, and then converted
himself into a nurse for the other two, who on getting warm were deadly sick.

JEFFERSON IN 1846. - Jefferson, the county seat, is 56 miles from Cleveland
and 204 northeast of Columbus. It is an incorporated borough, laid out
regularly on a level plat of ground, and contains 3 stores, 1 Presbyterian,
1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal and 1 Methodist church, and 73 dwellings. The
township of the same name is which it is situated was originally owned by
Gideon Granger, of Conn. In the spring of 1804 he sent out Mr. Eldad Smith
from Suffield, in that State, who first opened a bridle path at Austinburg,
and sowed and fenced ten acres of wheat. In the summer of the next year
Michael Webster, Jr., and family and Jonathan Warner made a permanent
settlement. In the fall following, the family of James Wilson built a cabin
on the site of the tavern shown in the view. The court-house was finished
in 1810 or 1811, and the first court held in 1811; Timothy R. Hawley,
Clerk; Quintus F. Atkins, Sheriff.
        Jefferson, county-seat, is fourteen miles south of Lake Erie on the
Franklin Branch of the L.S. & M.S.R.R., in the midst of a very prosperous
farming district.
        County officers for 1888: Auditor, Ellery H. Gilkey; Clerks, Chas.
H. Simonds, Benjamin F. Perry, Jr.; Commissioners, Edward P. Baker, Thomas
McGovern, Edward G. Hurlburt; Coroner, Wm. O. Ellsworth; Prosecuting
Attorney, James P. Caldwell; Probate Judge, Edward C. Wade; Recorder, Edgar
L. Hills; Sheriff, Starr O. Latimer; Surveyor, John S. Sill; Treasurer,
Amos B. Luce.
        NEWSPAPERS: Ashtabula Sentinel, J.A. Howells, editor, Republican;
Jefferson Gazette, Republican, Hon. E.L. Lampsen, editor. Churches: one
Congregational, one Baptist, one Methodist, one Episcopal, and one
Catholic. Banks: First National, N.E. French, president, J.C.A. Bushnell,
cashier; Talcott's Deposit, Henry Talcott, president, J.C. Talcott,
cashier. Population in 1880, 1,008.
        The village is well situated on a slight eminence which falls off
in each direction. Its streets are wide, well kept and finely shaded. It
has been the home of number of prominent men, including Senator B.F. Wade,
Hons. J.R. Giddings, A.G. Riddle, Wm. C. Howells, Rufus P. Ranney, etc. Mr.
Howells is the father of W.D. Howells, the author, and is one of the oldest
editors, if not the oldest in the State; he was at one time united States
Consul in Canada. The eminent Rufus P. Ranney was born in 1813 in
Blanford, Mass.; passed his youth in Portage county; studied law with Wade
and Giddings; in 1839 became a partner with Mr. Wade; was twice Supreme
Judge; member of the Constitutional Convention, United States District
Attorney for Northern Ohio in 1857; in 1859 was the Democratic candidate
for governor against Wm. Dennison. He now resides in Cleveland and is
considered by many as the first lawyer in Northern Ohio.


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