OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio -- The Frontier (Part 4) *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 October 1, 2001 *********************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio The Kelley Family Collections Newspaper article, Plains Dealer compiled by S.J. Kelley-- 1925 And Then They Went West by Darlene E. Kelley 1998 *********************************************************************** Ohio's Frontier -- Part 4 Lorenzo Carter and family Doans' Corners Articles by S.L. Kelly Plains Dealer *********************************************************************** Know Your Ohio Ohio's Frontier -- Part 4 Lorenzo Carter and Family -- When Lorenzo Carter came to the Western Reserve the second surveying party had not yet arrived. He arrived on the 2nd of May, 1797 bringing with him his wife, four children, his brother in law Ezechiel Hawley, his wife, and one child. They had started from Castleton, Vt., in the late summer of 1796, with three children, respectively two, four, and six years of age. When the family reached the small hamlet of Buffalo, it was deemed best to postpone the remainder of the journey and in order to secure shelter, they crossed the Niagara river into Canada. Before spring arrived, another child had been born, Little Henry Carter. Rebecca (Fuller ) Carter was but 28 years when they started their journey. She was the daughter of Amos and Mary (Taylor) Fuller and born about 1766 at Carmel, New York. While in Rutland, Vt , she married Lorenzo Carter, April 28, 1789. It was there that 3 of their children were born, and little Henry born on their way to Cleveland. They were blessed with nine children. Lucy Carter, sister of Lorenzo Carter, had married Ezekiel Hawley of Casstleton, Vt., and with her husband accompanied her brother's family on their trip into the Western Reserve. Their family, of living family, was small, some had died in infancy. as pioneer life took constant toll of infancy. Two are recorded, Fanny and Alphonso. They first lived on west 9th street, near the corner of Superior Ave., and within three years removed to a more healthy location on Broadway near Woodhill Road. The parents were victims of the epidemic of fever that swept the township in 1827. Lorenzo Carter and his family, arriving in the middle of May 1797, settled in the usual log cabin on a two acre lot near the foot of St Clair Ave., close to the river bank. The lot cost him $ 47.50. Their first log cabin on the river was the scene of many acivities. It was a dwelling, Indian trading post, store, and headquarters for all the settlement. They later in 1801 took possession of a new log house on the northeast conner of Superior and West Ninth Streets. This was a village tavern for several succeeding years, and here Mr. Carter died of a lingering and painful illness in 1814. Lorenzo Carter was born 1767 in Rutland Vt and became a pioneer citizen in Cleveland, a community leader. and tavernkeeper, was Cleveland's first permanent settler. Until April 1800, the Carters were the only white permanent settlers in Cleveland with other families who settled briefly there soon moving to Newburgh or Doan's Corners to escape the swampy enviorment. Carter, a Baptist, operated a ferry at the foot of Superior Street, constructed the first tavern in the city, and built a 30 ton schooner called the " Zephyr," a lake trading vessel (1808). He purchased 23 1/2 acres of land in 1802, and built the first frame house in Cleveland, which was destroyed by fire before completion. In 1802, he also built a block house containing Carter's Tavern, and constructed the first log warehouse in the city by 1810. Carter was a constable for Cleveland Twp, and a Major in the State Militia. The Carters had 9 children; 3 Boys, Alonzo, Henry, and Lorenzo; and 6 girls, Laura , Rebecca, Polly, Rebecca (2d), Mercy, and Betsy. Lorenzo and Rebecca died in infancy and Henry drowned in the river at the age of 10. The Carters purchased a large farm on the west side of the Cuyahoga River in 1810 which later became the property of Alonzo Carter. Lorenzo Carter died at the age of 47. His wife Rebecca died Oct 19, 1827. Both are buried in the Erie St. Cemetery at Cleveland. Laura Carter was born March 3,1792 and was married twice. She married 1st, Erastus Miles and 2nd, James Strong. Polly Carter was born Oct 8, 1798 and became Mrs William Peets. Mercy Carter was born April 3, 1804 and married Asahel Abels. Betsy Carter was born in 1808 and married Orison Cathan. Samuel Mather, Jr., a member of the board of directors of the Land Co., traveled on horseback to New Connecticut, visited Cleveland, and stopped at Carter's cabin. Upon his return to the East, he increased his property investments as evidence of his faith in the new territory. He was to be the only stockholder whose family would be directly and in a large way, identified with the history of Cleveland. Samuel Dodge, twenty one, settled in Cleveland after his long journey from New Hampshire. He was the first carpenter. Nathan Chapman, who had supplied meat to the first surveying expedition, returned to make the settlement his home. Rudolphus Edwards, a new arrival in the autumn, settled with his family on a 300 acre tract on Butternut Ridge ( Woodland Hills, on Steinway Ave west of Woodhill Road). Here he built a cabin east of the " fever and ague line ." A claim is made that David Abbott built the first grist-mill on the Reserve in the fall ( Willowby ). A mill at the forks of Indian Run, between Youngstown and Canfield, is also been said to have been operating within the year. Turhand Kirtland, agent for the land company, was sent to Cleveland to investigate the lagging sale of land tracts. Although prices were reduced, it was difficult to interest buyers. Competition had arisen from rival companies, especially in New York and Southern Ohio, where markets and trade routes were available, land titles were clear, and government had been established. The sale of large holdings was being pushed by owners-- state, federal, private -- and many new proprietors, unable to pay, barely escaped debtor's prison. The Companies list of shareholders changed frequently. Shares were passed on to members of families and to others to ease the financial burden, and a complete list cannot be determined. In 1709, on Euclid Road, Nathaniel Doan bought land for a home at $1 per acre, and in January, he built a cabin tavern ( northwest corner of Euclid and East 107th, continously serving hotel purposes, Fenway Hall site ). He added a store, and served as Justice of the Peace, postmaster, and clergyman. He built a blacksmith shop and started production in his plant. Farms were prospering, and the new road from Doan's corners to Newburgh was a popular thoroughfare. Doan died in his Tavern in 1815.. *********************************************** Plains Dealer-- S.L. Kelly Doans' Corners Nathaniel Doan was a blacksmith and a spirited adventurer. He was a member of Moses Cleaveland's original surveying party. The Connecticut Land Compnay offered him what looked like a good deal, if he would run a blacksmith shop on Superior Street, not far from the bank of the Cuyahoga River, where they had come ashore, he would be given a ten acre lot on which to build. Tending the horses and the cattle on the Cleaveland expedition had not been very fulfilling, and Doan eagerly accepted. When he returned the following year with his family, Nathaniel found Cleveland to be a more marshy hell than a promised land. Side pools of stagnant trapped water that gave off a foul smell, and snakes in uncommonly large numbers slithered about the waters edge and clouds of malaria carrying mosquitoes were their fate. Doan and his wife, Sarah, and eight children became incapacitated with fever and chills along with the rest of the settlement. His thirteen year old nephew, Seth, who came along with them, was the only one with enough strength to move about to fetch fresh water and supplies for them. As soon as he recovered, Nathaniel Doan moved his family to higher land he had purchased for one dollar an acre, about four miles due east of the original settlement. For eighty years the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Road would be known as Doan's Corners, and the stream that crossed the road a few blocks away, as Doans Brook. His purchase of this land was a lucky one. Euclid Road was a popular route for westward travelers. Up to fifteen covered wagons camped along Doan Brook each evening. Enterprising, Nathaniel first built a tavern/hotel and then a blacksmith shop. Next he built a salaterus ( bicarbonate of soda ) factory, Cleveland's first industry. He began parceling off his 320 acre land purchase west of East 107th Street. Doan's woodland soon became a settlement. Even then the neighborhood had its shortcomings. Attacks by wolves were common, and police were needed as well as fire and water service. Nathaniel Doan, greatful nevertheless for his good fortune, sponsored frequent balls in his tavern, to the chagrin of circuit preachers. One Reverand William Wick lamented in 1807 that settlers indulged in the " unscriptural, vain, and vicious practice of dancing." Even worse, sinner Nathaniel did not serve lemonade. The community's simple needs were easy to meet. Children kept busy picking chestnuts, playing games like Pom-Pom-Pull-Away and, in the winter, skating on the old mill pond. Singalongs and poetry recitations, entertained everyone. " We lived thus quietly --" recalls Charles Asa Post, who documented the early days, " and thought we were happy, and at home and in our circle of friends, quarrels were unknown and scandals unheard of." The growth of the Corners slowed in the 1810's, when the building of the Ohio canal eliminated Cleveland's swamp and health problems ( until then, the harbor had been only three feet deep ). Development became incremental. Samuel Cozad built a grist mill and Elias Cozad built a tannery. Two horses pulling tandem cars transported commuters to Cleveland twice a day in 1834. Nathaniel Doan died in 1815, at the age of 53, but his wife, Sarah, lived another 38 years. His grandson, William Halsey Doan, organized a crude oil sales Company in 1864, which was bought out a few years later by a young businessman named John D. Rockefeller. *********************************************** to be continued in Part 5.