OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Cuyahoga County Agriculture
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Darlene E. Kelley
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374
July 3, 1999
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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
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The First Settlers--

    The first settlers in Cuyahoga County followed the usual pioneer
routine. They made clearances, planted corn, buckwheat, and rye, fenced
in garden patches, and kept oxen, cows, and swine.  When the soil had
been tamed by other crops, they sowed wheat. They carried on their
activities in spite of Malaria, the ravaging of crops by multitudes of
squirrels, and attacks on their livestcok by wolves. Many wre really
professional land clearers who, after a few years, moved on to repeat
the farm making process elsewhere.  The remainder, like the incomers,
who bought partial holdings, became regular farmers. 
    The first settlers in a community under clearance had the advantage
of a newcomers market, because later immigrants often had few or no
livestock and before long exhausted their supply of food, they had
brought with them, so they had to buy locally.  In parts of Cuyahoga
County, the newcomers market lasted until around 1810. During the war of
1812, Cleveland became an accumulating point for army supplies and food,
and after the war, they shared the general depression afflicting the
western country.

The Depression--

    The depression continued until 1825, when the opening of the Erie
Canal allowed shipments of wheat to markets in the East. Later, when the
Ohio and Erie canals opened, there was a ready demand in the adjacent
territory for wheat and other farm products, and Cleveland changed from
a village, to a bustling urban center. At the same time, they became a
region of old cleared farms, where most of the occupants engaged ia a
mixed agriculture, relying on an income from the sale of wheat, wool,
wood and cattle.

Specialization--

   The most important local farm specialization was dairying; butter was
manufactured for sale to peddlers and storekeepers, but cheese was also
made on some of the farms from the early 1830's. While, Cuyahoga county,
was much less important in cheesemaking than the Wastern Reserve
counties to the east, its output of butter and cheese together in 1839
was valued near $100,000. During the 1840's, many farmers just outside
of Cleveland delivered milk to urban residents--some sold at a market or
by peddling through the streeets, others to milkmen with routes. The
Western Reserve dairy farmers bought their cows from drovers in the
spring and sold them off in the fall, congratulating themselves on their
good judgement when they found a few good milkers among the
nondescripts.
    A second type of specialization was the commercial growing of
orchard fruits by farmers along Lake Erie. By mid-century the fruit,
mainly cherries and peaches, was shipped by boat and rail to eastern and
western markets. During the 1840's, grapes were grown in Cleveland and
northern most townships and Kelley's Island, primary a a garden crop,
and by 1855, there were about 200 acres of vineyards near Euclid. Here
was a small production of wine, the best from around Kelley's Island,
but most of the crop was sent by rail as table grapes to eastern and
midwestern cities.
    A third specialization was market gardening, which involved growing
a varity of vegetables, plus Strawberries and other small fruits.
Limited to the thinly populated parts of Cleveland and its environs and
was carried on almost exclusively by Euopean immigrants and their
families, as native-born Americans had no relish for the incessant
spading, hoeing, and weeding required.

In General--

    Cuyahoga County farmers prospered during the 3 decades preceding the
Civil War, and consequently they were able to improve their buildings
and buy new type of impliments as the became available. Like other Ohio
Counties. Cuyahoga in the pre-Civil War era had agricultural societies.
The first society. organized in 1823, held a few fairs or cattle shows,
but attracted very little general support among farmers, disappearing
around 1830s. A second short lived society was organized in 1834; a
third came into being in 1839, held fairs from 1839-41, then suspended
operations in 1842. The Fourth, established in 1846 under a new State
Law that provided for a subsidy from the county treasury, was successful
because it featured horse trotting at its fairs.
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