OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 182 *********************************************************************** 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. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 01 : Issue 182 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio - The F ["MaggieOhio" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <010f01c14c4d$7ada3c80$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio - The Frontier-- Part 3. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Oct 1, 2001 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Ohio -- The Frontier Part 3 The firsts -- Articles by S.J. Kelly on Job Stiles Plains Dealer *********************************************** Ohio -- The Frontier part 3 . The firsts-- Cleavelands men were capable engineers and practical planners, endowed with courage and endurance. The survey of 1796 was made under the direction of Augustus Porter, superintendent, who had the techical assistance of Amos Spafford and Seth Pease, makers of the first two maps of Cleveland. These maps, simular in most respects, initiated a city plan with right angle streets of noble width, and with the public square. In the fall. the surveyors departed. The founder had done his work wisely and well. When he returned to Connecticut, he resumed his law practice, never to again visit the settlement on the lake. When he died ten years later, the little colony bearing his name was slowly taking substancial form. In early 1797, a second expedition was organized, with Rev Seth Hart, head of the party, and Seth Paease, chief surveyor. By fall, the exploration of the Reserve was concluded. Cleveland street lines were determined and lots were laid out. The surveyors left a rich heritage in the form of goodly waterfront, forests of sturdy timber, a curving stream, and wide stretches of level land backed by a gentle ridge. The year 1797, witnessed the arrival of the first settlers-- Elisha Gun, Lorenzo Carter, Ezeckiel Hawley, and James Kingsbury with their families. Despite privations, disease, and danger, the pioneers sought the opportunity at the frontier, ax in one hand, rifle in the other. and the bible in their saddlebags. Early during the summer, the surveyors had built a cabin labeled " Pease's Hotel " and a storehouse for supplies near the river. They also erected a cabin for the Stiles family on lot 53 ( West 6th, near Superior ). In about mid october, winter threatened, urging plans for departure. By the eighteenth, the surveying party had gone. Seed wheat brought from a settlement on the Genesee River in New York State was sowed in the fall on a 6 acre clearing at Conneaut, east of the creek, by the land company employees. It grew to produce the first-- crop of grain grown by civilized men on the Western Reserve. Only a footpath led down to the mouth of the Cuyahoga where the surveyors' cabins had been empty for about a month. Three people remained in the settlement in a lonely cabin built by the surveyors. This was the first-- family dwelling in Cleveland, The Stiles', and Joseph Landon, who soon moved on. A new boarder, Edward Paine, traded with the Ottawa, Delaware. and Chippewa Indians west of the river, and later founded Painesville. A small camp of friendly Senacas lived under the hill. This was Cleveland on the first-- Thanksgiving, as the population of these people prepared to face the first winter in the wilderness. The first-- adventurer to seek a new home for his family in the Reserve of his own volition was James Kingsbury, aged twenty nine. He had come to Conneaut from Alsted, New Hampshire, with his wife, Eunice Waldo Kingsbury, and three small children. They had arrived soon after the surveyors. The first-- six months in Conneaut is typical of pioneer courage and fortitude. Dwindling supplies and an absence of game presaged starvation for the family. In Novemeber, Kingsbury set out for New Hampshire to secure provisions, expecting he would be gone for a month or so. There he was stricken with fever. Anxiety for his family urged him to start home sooner than advisable, and when he reached Buffalo on Dec 3, he was almost exhausted. Pushing forward the next day with his Indian guide, into the wilds, he was overtaken with snow that had fallen for three weeks without intermission, until, in some places it was up to his chin. His horse died on the way, but determined to go on, and it was Christmas Eve, when he reached his cabin. First-- Christmas Eve. Meantime, friendly Indians had brought Mrs Kingsbury meat until they could no longer brave the winter storms. Her husband's thirteen year old nephew cared for the oxen and cow, and tried to comfort the pioneer mother in her loneliness and despair when she gave birth to the first-- white child born on the Reserve before the father returned. Soon fever attacked his wife, their food was almost gone, and James Kingsbury, forgetful of his own weakness, set out with a hand-sled for Erie, where he obtained a bushel of wheat, which when cracked and boiled stayed starvation. Upon the death of the cow from the effects of eating the browse of oak trees, the baby's chance for life, decreased daily, and the child died in January. The First-- death. The family endured near starvation, and for two weeks Mrs Kingsbury was scarcely conscious. Late in Feb or early March the bitter winter relaxed, and Kingsbury was able to bring down a solitary pigeon with a well aimed shot. The nourishing broth kindled a spark that started the long climb to health in the frail, tired body of his wife. They had survived the first -- hard winter. The first -- white child born and lived in Cleveland was Charles Phelps Stiles, son of Job Phelps and Tabitha Cumi Stiles. The date was January 23, 1797. The first-- permanent settlers was Lorenzo Carter, thirty years of age, arriving in May 1797 and his brother in law, Ezekiel Hawley, and their families. They came from Vermont. Cartier erected a log cabin with a garret on the east bank of the river ( foot of St. Clair ) on a tract near the surveyors' hut. Travelers were welcomed to a meal, a bed, and a drink of good New England rum. Carter was a man of action and energy. He soon built a boat, launched a ferry at the foot of Superior Street, and laid in a stock of goods for trade with the Indians. Carter was a Baptist. The first-- boat of the second surveying expedition landed at the storehouse on the Cuyahoga on the afternoon of June 1, 1797. As the other boats came in, they brought the news of tragedy, the drowning of David Elridge, one of the party, as he attempted to ford the Grand River on horseback on June 3rd. Rev Hart with the surveying party conduced the first-- religious service in Cleveland the next day at the burial in the first-- cemetery on the east side of Ontario ( north of Prospect ). The plot was surrounded by briars and bushes. Virgin forests crowded in, and a little to the south on Ontario was a large mound, said to be the work of the Mound Builders. The first-- wedding was performed in Carter's cabin on July 4, 1797. Cleo Inches, Mrs Carter's household helper, became the bride of William Clement, who pursed her from Ontario. Rev Hart officiated. The bride and groom left the settlement on their honeymoon and never returned. This seems to be the last record of the good Reverands clerical ministrations. The first -- dry goods store was opened by Edward Paine. His stock of bright colored calicoes and trinkets brought a traffic line of curious but friendly Indians . James Kingsbury and his family who had accompanied the surveyers when they moved from Conneaut to Cleveland had lived a short time in a deserted trading cabin west of the river ( near Main and Center streets) -- reputedly the Astor House-- until a new cabin was built. ( Federal Building Site ) On Dec 11, the Kingsbury's moved again, this time to a higher, healthier location away from the swamps-- the ridge southeast of Cleveland ( Woodhill Road ) on the line from what became Doan's Corners ( East 105th Street ) This was the beginning of Newburgh -- or Newburg-- settlement. The first-- move to the suburbs had begun. *********************************************** From the Plains Dealer-- by S.L. Kelly Job Stiles' Cabin-- Job Stiles and his wife spent the winter of 1796 in their log cabin on Superior street, the first residence of a white family in Cleveland. The street hd been surveyed but probably a tree had not been cut in its whole length of Erie ( E.9th ) Street. All was forest and smoke must have risen from the cabin chimney, in a small clearing back of the spot where stood the Mercantile Bank Building long after, at Bank ( W 6th ) and Superior. The corner now is a parking lot and gas station and one of the occupants of the last building was the Guardian Savings & Trust Co. Cleveland's surveyers left for home Oct 18, 1796. Their field notes say: " We left at Cuyahoga, Job Stiles ad wife, and Joseph Landon, with provisions for the Winter." Landon did not reman long, but the Stiles couple stayed through the cold dreary season. Senecas on the east bank under the High Level bridge is now; Chippawas and Ottawas on the west side, partly up the hill, treated he lonely couple with great kindness. A foot path to the Senecas' camp, and down Union Lane ( W.10th ) to the surveyor's store house, was the only public highway. On Jan. 23,1797, a son was born to the Stiles'. Named Charles Phelps Stiles, the first white child born in Cleveland, he remained for years to marry and rear a family. Later he removed to Beaver, Iroquois County. Illinois, where he died in 1882, age 85. The timbered heights on the Cuyahoga had long been a roaring city with railroads, steamboats, paved streets, thousands of residents, and evenelectric lights. Nathaniel Doan, of the surveying expeditions of 1796 and 1797, was blacksmith for the Connecticut Land Co. He brought on his family in 1798 and " erected a " crude shop " on Superior Street before the Stiles' lot and occupied their cabin home. *********************************************** The Stiles Leave Cleveland by S.L Kelly Plains Dealer The Job Stiles did not remain long in their cabin on Superior Street for some reason not clear. Actions of the Land Company indicate that they had been promised a two-acre city lot for living here that first desolate winter. Records show an entry made Jan 23,1798, at a pay off meeting at Hartford, Conn. They paid Chief Red Jacket $ 15, an expense account. $ 10 in cash and the rest in goods, and adopted this resolution. " Whereas, The Directors have given to Tabitha Stiles, Wife of Job P. Stiles, one city lot, one 10 acre lot, and one 100 acre lot; ---- ; ( torn area ) to Nathaniel Doan one city lot, he being obliged to reside thereon as a blacksmith, and all in the city and town of Cleveland. Voted that these grants be approved. " Notwithstanding this, the Stiles vacated their cabin. The lots never deeded to Mrs. Stiles, and after living in differnt places in the town before the war of 1812, they returned to Vermont. Years later Job stiles died at Brandon, Vt., aged 80. He often declared that he built the first house in Cleveland and this entitles him to be considered the first actual builder of a residence in the city. He may not have decided its plain dimensions. But he worked on it, the cabin was to be his home, and he probably determined its arrangement and design, which is part of the architect's work. So technically he belonged to the profession. Mrs. Tabitha Stiles lived 10 years after her husband. Sharp real estate dealers heard of her claim to the Cleveland lots promised by the Land Company, which greatly increased in value. These dealers sought her out and persuaded her to sign away her claim to the property for a few head of cattle. ********************************************** to be continued in part 4 ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_066D_01C152C2.40360660 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Fw_ Know Your Ohio -- Ohio_ s Frontier -- Part 4.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Fw_ Know Your Ohio -- Ohio_ s Frontier -- Part 4.eml" X-Message: #2 Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 16:54:15 -0400 From: "MaggieOhio" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <014401c14c4f$a932f160$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio" s Frontier -- Part 4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Oct 2, 2001 ********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley 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. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V01 Issue #182 *******************************************