OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 309 Today's Topics: #1 Erie Co, History Part 6 [LeaAnn ] #2 Erie Co. History Part 7 [LeaAnn ] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 01:59:43 -0700 From: LeaAnn Subject: Erie Co, History Part 6 Historical Collections of Ohio Henry Howe LL.D. Erie County Three miles north of Sandusky, in her land-locked bay, lies Johnson's Island. Its area is about 300 acres; nearly a mile long and half that in breadth, gradually rising in the center to a height of fifty feet. It was originally covered with heavy timber, and a favorite resort of the Indians, who came here in the fishing season, engaged in festivities, and brought their captives for torture. Its first owner was E.W. Bull, and it was called Bull's Island until 1852, when it was purchased by L.B. Johnson and its name changed to Johnson's Island. In 1811 an effort was made to found a town on the island, and steps taken to lay out village lots; the custom house of the port was located here, but the attempt was unsuccessful and abandoned. In 1861 the property was leased by the government as a depot for rebel prisoners. The necessary buildings having been erected, the first prisoners were installed in their quarters in April 1962, under the charge of Company A, Hoffman Battalion, which was subsequently increased to a full regiment, the 128th O.V.I. The number of prisoners was constantly varying, the largest number at any one time being over 3,000; but from the period of its establishment until the close of the war, over 15,000 rebels were confined here, and owing to its supposed security, the prisoners were largely composed of rebel officers. As the war progressed floating rumors of an intended rescue by rebel sympathizers in Canada came to the ears of the Federal authorities, and the steamer, "Michigan" the only United States war vessel on Lake Erie, was stationed here. In September, 1864, a conspiracy was concocted to release the prisoners, at that time numbering about 2,400, arm them, burn Sandusky, Cleveland and other defenseless lake cities, secure horses, ride through Ohio, raiding the country on the route, and join the rebel army in Virginia; at the same time the "Michigan" was to be captured and co-operate with the released prisoners on land. The narrative of the occurrences which follows is abridged from that in the "Lake Shore Magazine." John Yates Beall, a Virginian of great wealth and a graduate of Virginia University, called the "Pirate of Lake Erie," was the prime mover in this conspiracy, and was aided in the enterprise by that arch traitor and fiend, Jacob Thompson, the agent of the Confederate government. September 19, 1864, the steamer "Philo Parsons," plying between Detroit, Sandusky and the adjacent islands, was boarded at Sandwich on the Canadian shore by four men, and at Malden by twenty more, who brought an old trunk with them. No suspicions were aroused, as large numbers of fugitives were constantly traveling to and from Canada at that time. After leaving Kelley's Island, the clerk, who was in command of the boat, was suddenly confronted by four men with revolvers pointed at his head, the old trunk was opened, the whole party armed themselves, and with Beall at their head took possession of the boat. Her course was altered and turned back to Middle Bass Island. here the "Island Queen," a boat plying among the islands, came alongside; she was immediately boarded, and although her Captain (G.W. Orr) made a determined resistance, she was soon at the mercy of the conspirators, together with a large number of passengers. The engineer of the "Queen" refusing to do the bidding of the captors, was shot through the cheek. But no discourtesy was offered to any one of us beyond the absolute necessity of the case, the conspirators being largely educated men and from the best families of the South. An oath of secrecy for twenty-four hours was extorted from the passengers, and they were then put ashore, the Captain of the "Queen" being retained as pilot, a capacity in which he refused to act. The two steamers were then lashed together and put off toward Sandusky; but after proceeding a few miles the "Island Queen" was scuttled and the "Parsons" continued alone; she did not enter, but cruised around the mouth of Sandusky Bay, waiting for the signal from the conspirators on land. That part of the plot had, however, failed. A confederate officer named Cole, to whom the operations at Sandusky had been entrusted, had, as a Titusville oil man, been figuring very largely in social circles, a liberal entertainer, giving wine suppers and spending money very freely. He had formed the acquaintance of the officers of the "Michigan" and had invited them to a wine supper on the evening of September 19th. The wine was drugged, and when the officers had succumbed to it a signal was to notify Beall, who was then to make the attack on the "Michigan," But Cole had performed his part of the plan in such a bungling manner that the suspicions of the officers were aroused and the commanding officer of the "Michigan," Capt. Carter, arrested him on suspicion at the very moment when success seemed assured. In the meanwhile Beall and his comrades waited outside the bay for the signal; but, as the time for it passed by and it was not given, they realized that the plot had failed, and made for the Canadian shore, passing Middle Bass Island, where he had left the "Island Queen" and "Parson's" passengers, who saw the "Parsons" pass "with fire pouring out of her smokestacks, and making for Detroit like a scared pickerel." The captain and others who had been kept to manage the "Parsons" were put off on an uninhabited island, and when the Canadian shore was reached, she was scuttled and the conspirators disbanded. This daring venture excited great consternation among the lake cities and served to call attention to their defenseless condition. Beall was captured a few months later, near Suspension Bridge, charged with being a spy both in Ohio and New York, also with an attempt to throw an express train from the track between Dunkirk and Buffalo. He confessed to much of the evidence brought against him, was found guilty and hung on Governor's Island, February 24, 1865. Cole, after being arrested managed to warn his accomplices in Sandusky, of whom he had a great number, and who, thus warned, escaped arrest. He himself was confined for some time on board the "Michigan," afterward transferred to the island, then to Fort Lafayette in September 1865, and was ultimately released after the close of the war. The treatment of the rebel prisoners on Johnson's Island was considerate even to the verge of indulgence; their wants were said to have been better filled than those of the soldiers guarding them; this was owing to their being supplied plentifully with money by their friends; they were well fed, clothed and housed and were allowed every privilege consistent with security. The prisoners were all confined within an enclosure of about eighteen acres surrounded by a stockade eighteen feet high, made of plank, with a platform near the top, about four feet wide, where the sentinels walked. This is shown in the engraving. At the east and west corner was a block-house with small brass cannon. The soldiers' and officers' quarters of the guard were at the left of the enclosure. The open space shown by the flag was the parade ground. On the left of the road was a line of small buildings, hucksters, shops, etc. Beyond appears Fort Hill. It was an earthwork and mounted a few guns. The graveyard was in the grove on the extreme right, where to this day are relics. ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 03:28:28 -0700 From: LeaAnn Subject: Erie Co. History Part 7 Historical Collections of Ohio Henry Howe LL.D. Erie County Travelling Notes-- Sandusky impresses one with the extreme solid appearance of its business and public buildings. It is because the whole city lies upon an inexhaustible quarry of the finest limestone, and all the people have to for structures is to blast and rear. The outlook upon its harbor is extremely pleasant; it is so expanded and well defended. In the very heats of summer the breeze comes from the lake with a refreshing coolness, while the thought that steamers are continually plying to the beautiful cluster of islands beyond the bay to give the visitor any needed change he may require of scene, adds to the attractions of the city as he may walk its solidly lined streets. Four things come in mind in connection with Sandusky, viz, lumber, fish, lime and grapes. It is a great lumber mart, the lumber coming mainly from Michigan, and it is the greatest fish market on the globe. Vast quantities of lime are burnt, especially over on the peninsula, that body of land forming the western boundary of the bay, and put on the map as Ottawa County; and as to grapes, there seems to be no end. In this county alone the vineyards aggregate nearly five square miles, viz., 3,082 acres. In 1885 the amount of wine manufactured amounted to 71,170 gallons. One gentleman in Sandusky, Gen. Mills, an octogenarian, has in a single body a vineyard of eighty acres, the largest, I believe, in Ohio. From this he makes a superior article of sparkling Catawba wine, "Mills Brand" that, having once tasted for "medicinal purposes only," a a Rechabite in temperance in a season of despondency would be sorely tempted for a revivication merely to yield his willing lips. The general tells me there is no money in the manufacture of this, a pure, honest article. The public demand is for cheap wines. The consequence is they largely get adulterations, with which any vineyard has but slight connection, an as a return for their parsimony, the imbibants suffer from disordered stomachs and splitting headaches. Looking on the map again one will see forming the east boundary of the bay a strip of land about three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide, terminating in a point, called Cedar Point, on or near which is a lighthouse. In the summer season a steamer, the "R.B. Hayes," continually passes to and from the city, carrying parties thither for picnics in the groves and bathing. The beach there on the lake side is safe and beautiful for bathing, and so expansive the view that one standing there is affected by the same emotion as if grazing upon the ocean. Johnson's Island, at the mouth of the harbor, is in plain sight from the dock at Sandusky. It will always be an object of interest to travellers as the spot where the officers of the Confederate army were confined. Mr. Leonard Johnson, son of the owner of the island, has given me some interesting items. He was then a boy of about eight years, and often went into the prison with his elder brother. The prisoners were always glad to see children, welcomed and petted them. For amusement they had athletic games and theatricals. In summer, he told me, they were allowed to bathe in the lake, about 100 at a time, under guard. One of their amusements was whittling and carving finger rings, watch charms, etc., from gutta-percha buttons, their work being sometimes very ingenious and beautiful. The guard were principally recruited for this purpose in the lake neighborhood, and many had their families on the island. Two men were drummed off the island, one for stealing blankets, and the other a teamster, for an offense of a different character. The latter had a placard in front and one in the rear proclaiming his malfeasance thus: I SOLD WHISKEY TO THE REBELS. His hands were tied behind, and he was marched in the middle of a squad of soldiers, with their bayonets pointed towards him, those in front having their guns reversed. To the music of drums and fifes he was conducted to the boat, thence through the streets of Sandusky to the depot. It was an occasion of great fun and frolic and the derisive shouts of the following crowd added to the mortification of the teamster, who was employed to cart away offal, but sold whiskey to the rebels. Prominent among the public men in Sandusky at the time of my original visit was ELEUTHEROS COOKE, born in Granville, N.Y., in 1787, died in Sandusky in 1864: a large, fine looking , enthusiastic gentleman, social, pleasing to meet, and universally respected. He was by profession, a lawyer, was in the State Legislature and in Congress, and a pioneer in railroad enterprises, having been the projector of the Mad River railroad. He had a wonderful command of language, was an orator very flowery and imaginative, and indulged largely in poetical similes. On an occasion in Congress, when Mr. Stanberry, of Ohio, was assaulted on Pennsylvania Avenue by Felix Houston, of Texas, for words spoken in debate, he declared in a speech, that if freedom of discussion was denied them he would "flee to the bosom of his constituents," an expression that his political opponents ran the changes upon for a long time after. He could talk for hours upon any given topic, and on occasion when it was necessary to get a new writ from Norwalk to detain for debt an arrested steamboat man with his vessel, he talked to the court sixteen hours continuously to stave off a decision upon the defective writ by which he was held. In order to illustrate the legal question before the court, he had gone into a review of the history of the human race, and got from the Creation down to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus when the necessary papers arrived; then he stopped the harangue, allowed to old writ to be squelched, the new writ was then served, when the defendant paid his debt, an sailed away in his steamer. Mr Cooke had one trouble, it was lifelong, stuck to him closer than a brother. It was in his name, Eleutheros. He was born in 1787, the year of the framing of the Federal Constitution, and the name was given in commemoration; it was rom a Greek term signifying to set free. It showed his parents must have been fanciful and so he got his name alike with poetical tendencies from them. But the name liked to have been his ruin, that is political ruin. He lost one election by its misspelling, more particularly by the German voters. They spelt it in various ways, taking with it most unwarrantable liberties, spelling it "Luther," "Lutheros," "Eilutheros," "Eilros," etc. When he had boys of his own, taking warning from experience, he started them with names after great statesmen. The first was Pitt Cooke, the second was Jay Cooke, and the third was to have been, perhaps Fox Cooke, or something like it, when the mother rebelled and the child was given the good old-fashioned name of Henry D. Cooke. Pitt died at fifty; he was a partner with his brothers in the banking business. Henry D. Became an eminent journalist, had an interesting and valuable life; was the first governor of the District of Columbia, appointed by Grant, and died in 1881. The history of Jay Cooke, the great financier of our civil war, is dwelt upon under the head of Ottawa County, where lies Gibraltar, his beautiful summer island home in the lake, where he entertains his friends with abounding hospitality and recreates with much fishing in prolific waters. In my original visit to Sandusky there was also residing here EBENEZER LANE, whose acquaintance I had the privilege of making. He was among the most eminent legal men of Ohio of that day; profound in scholarship and frank and cordial in his ways. In five minutes I felt as though we had been lifelong friends. His brothers in the profession idolized him. He was born in Northampton in 1793, graduated at Harvard in 1811, studied law under his uncle, Matthew Griswold, of Lyme, Conn.; early came to Ohio, was soon Judge of Common Pleas and from 1843 until 1845 Judge of the Supreme Court, when he retired from the bench to give his attention to the railroad development of this region. Sandusky never dreamed but what she would be the terminus of the Ohio Canal. It was the shortest and direct distance across the State from the mouth of the Scioto on the Ohio to the lake, and its harbor expansive and safe. Instead of that, mainly through the efforts of Alfred Kelley, who then resided there and was one of the canal commissioners, Cleveland was made its terminus; thus increasing the distance by a winding torturous course of perhaps thirty or more miles, yet bringing the canal nearer the big wheat fields and coal beds, and accommodating a larger farming population, a more densely settled older country. The canal was a prime factor in making Cleveland, the great lake city of the State. The people of Sandusky felt keenly its loss as a cruel wrong, and with the hope of retrieving the disaster started the earliest in railroad construction; so Judge Lane, prompted by public spirit, left the bench to exert his powers in that direction, in the course of which he became president of the Lake Erie and Mad River railroad, a link in the first continuous railroad line across the State. Cleveland was also on the alert in railroad construction, but a little behind Sandusky, and tapping the great coal-fields of south-eastern Ohio and bringing down the iron of Lake Superior got a power for the lead that was irresistible. The diversion of Judge Lane from his profession was a loss to his fame, as otherwise his reputation would have become national, from his unquestionably great powers. On the publication of my original edition, I got four of those whom I regarded as the most influential men of the Ohio of that day to unite in a joint recommendation, two Democrats and two Whigs. Those four were Samuel Medary, of Columbus, editor of the Ohio Statesman, called the "Old Wheelhorse of the Democracy," Governor Reuben Wood, of Cleveland, the "Tall chief of the Cuyahogas," Thomas Corwin, of Lebanon, "The Wagon boy," and Ebenezer Lane, of Sandusky, and there I rested, fortified as the book was by a "Wheel Horse," a "Cuyahoga Chief," a "Wagon Boy," and a "Judge." -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #309 *******************************************