OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 1 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 January 25, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Series of Articles; Tid Bits of S.L. Kelly by Darlene E. Kelley. ************************************************************************** Tid Bits of Ohio are small articles of what made up some of the most interesting facts of our beautiful society. They are the backbone of Cleveland and its surrounding areas, which today make interesting reading. Perhaps boring to some, others may find them interesting and informative. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Charles Dicken's Visits Cleveland. Charles Dicken's visit to Cleveland was part of a tour to the U.S. in 1842. The English novelist, his wife, and a traveling friend, Mr. Putman, arrived in our fair parts, arriving just after midnight on Monday, the 25th of April. Traveling on the steamboat " Constitution " and having a rough voyage across Lake Erie from Sandusky, it did not prove to be a particularly successful stopover. It seems that while in Sandusky, Mr. Dickens had read a newspaper article appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, to which he took exception because of its chauvinistic bombast toward England. Evidentently failing to realize that the piece was merely a reprint from another newspaper, Dickens's ire had not abated upon his arrival in Cleveland. Although in his report, he described the town in glowing terms " a beautiful town " he felt that his reception left much to be desired. Upon returning to the " Constitution " and in his stateroom, after a walk around our town with Putnam. the Author and his wife were subjected to curious stares of the local residents, who peered in the windows trying to get a look at the famous gentlemen. Dickens was so upset by this unwanted attention, that when mayor, Dr. Joshua Mills, came on board, the Author refused to speak to him. Undaunted, the mayor moved to the end of the pier and passed the time whittling, in the futile hope that Dickens would change his mind. He sat there until 9 o'clock in the morning, till the " Constitution " sailed with the stubborn Author, and his party, to Buffalo. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ First Newspaper Thomas D. Webb, twenty eight, was the editor of the first Newspaper in the Western Reserve, with the pompous title, " The Trump of Fame." The first issue appeared on June 9, 1812, in Warren, which had been his home since 1807, when he arrived from Windham, Connecticut. The pioneer publication consisted of four small pages printed from minute type. There was little controversial copy, no local news, and only scanty editorials. Eastern papers were combed for material; and although the columns were stale when they reached the subscriber, they were eagerly welcomed. Four years later, the editor was able to secure the letters " V " and " W, " and the paper became know by the dignified title, " Western Reserve Chronicle." Later it became known as the " Warren Tribune Chronicle." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Old Cemetery One of the oldest cemeteries in the Western Reserve is a plot overlooking the valley of Nine mile Creek. The first grave was made in 1813 for Susannah Barr, wife of the Pastor of the Plan of Union Church, the Rev. Thomas Barr. Here were buried John Shaw, for whom Shaw High School was named, Andrew McIlrath, and Enoc Murray, the first Mason to settle in the Western Reserve. Soldiers and stout-hearted men and women found a last resting place in this obscure corner. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Leonard Case, Sr. The lack of a central bank made it difficult to finance the War of 1812 and the end of the conflict found the country flooded with unsound currency and its financial system in chaos. Despite arguements of unconstitutionality, enough support was secured to charter a new institution for twenty years, and the Second National Bank was established. Cleveland was to have a branch in the new Commercial Bank of Lake Erie. Leonard Case " wrote a good hand and was a good accountant, " and Judge James Kingsbury recommended that he be brought to Cleveland from Warren, Ohio, to be cashier of the new bank. Case came in June of 1816, as the first bank of the village was being organized. His salary was $800 annually. Case was born July 29, 1786 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the son of Meshach Case and Magdalene (Eckstein) Case, a poor frontier farmer. His parents brought their large family to Warren Township in 1800. In 1801, Leonard suffered from extreme outdoor exposure leading to an illness that left him a cripple and pain in his lifetime. This was, however, no handicap to his ambition. He served as confidential clerk to General Simon Perkins, land agent for the Connecticut Land Company in 1807, and studied law in his spare time. During the War of 1812, he collected delinquent taxes. When Case came to Cleveland, he brought a valuable knowledge of the Western Reserve gained in the Warren tax office; and besides serving as cashier of the bank, he practiced law and dealt in real estate. After the bank failed, Case stayed in Cleveland practicing law. From 1821-25, as President of the Cleveland village council, he was responsible for planting shade trees, earning Cleveland the nickname " Forest City." From 1824-27, he served in the Ohio legislature, drafting laws taxing land according to their value rather than size. He advocated railroads and canals. He was also an investor in the Cleveland-Columbus-Railroad. He married Elizabeth Gaylord in Stow, Portage County, in 1817, and in the late 1840's turned his affairs over to his sons William and Leonard, Jr. Case gave to many great chartiable organizations, including Cleveland's first school for the poor, the Cayahoga County Historical Society, the Cleveland Medical College, and the city's first lyceum for the arts. Case died in Cleveland and was buried in Lake View Cemetery. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Edison Family John Edison, the great-grandfather of the inventor, Thomas A. Edison, originally settled in New Jersey. Family fortunes fluctuated with the politics of the times. Like many well-to-do landowners, John Edison remained a Loyalist during the Revolution. Because of this, he was imprisoned and was for a time, under sentence of execution, but he was saved from this fate through the efforts of prominent Whig relatives. His lands were confiscated, however, and the family migrated to Nova Scotia. The Edisons remained in Nova Scotia until 1811, when they moved to Vienna, Ontario. Edison's grandfather, Captain Samuel Edison, served the British in the war of 1812. In Ontario, Edison's father, also named Samuel, met and married Nancy Elliott, a school teacher and daughter of Elenezer Mathews Elliott, who was a captain in Washington's army. The younger Samuel became involved in another political struggle-- a much later and unsuccessful Canadian counterpart of the American Revolution known as the Papineau-MacKenzie Rebellion. Upon the failure of this rebellion, he was forced to flee across the border to the United States. After innumerable dangers and hardships, Samuel finally reached the town of Milan, Ohio, where he decided to settle. In Milan, Samuel established himself as a manufacture of roof shingles and sent for Nancy and their five children to join him. When the Edison family arrived in town to join Samuel, about 1840, Milan was entering the period of its greatest glory. Due to its location on the Huron River and the Canal built to link Milan to the Great Lakes, the town soon became a busy grain port. All sorts of commodities from every point in the state were conveyed to Milan in long wagon trains, then loaded abroard ships from warehouses that lined the banks of the canal. In 1847, 917,800 bushels of wheat were shipped from this port, making the second largest wheat shipping port in the world after the Ukranian city of Odessa. At this time, Milan also became a shipbuilding center, producing 75 lake schooners in 1847. By 1850, the advent of the railroads and consequent changes in transportation methods had put an end to the town's great prosperity. The canal and the shipyard were eventually abandoned and the warehouses disappeared. Milan's " golden age," which had lasted only about ten years, was over-- though shipments of grain continued until 1865. The lot on which the Edison house stands was bought in 1841 by Nancy Elliott Edison, mother of Thomas Alva Edison. Nancy and Samuel Edison started building their home, designed by Samuel, in the same year. Thomas Alva Edison was born in this house on February 11, 1847. Edison's parents sold the house in 1854, and the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. ( Note ++ ) [ The birthplace was out of family ownership for the next forty years. In 1894, Edison's sister, Marion Edison Page bought the house and added a bathroon and other then modern conveniences. Edison became the owner of his birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, he was shocked to find his old home still lighted by lamps and candles, in spite of all his 1001 patented inventions. ++] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Other Tid Bits in part 2.