A
CENTURY of years ago this country was in the midst of a dire
conflict with a powerful foe, waged in behalf of freedom and
American independence as against the tyranny of merciless
oppression. At that time the district bordering the
southern shore of the western half of Lake Erie was a dense
forest, inhabited by wild animals and a few scattered and feeble
bands of Indians. In the settled regions along the
Atlantic the vaguest notions were then entertained in regard to
the country situated upon the borders of Lake Erie. At
about the time of which we speak, in a town in the State of
Connecticut, the question was asked in the presence of the
number of intelligent men, what lake lay immediately west of
Lake Ontario, and there was not a person present who could make
answer. That there was a body of water here was known; but
what name it bore, and what its size, its locality, none were
able to explain. It was regarded as a distant, solitary
lake, situated far towards the setting sun, and not far removed
from the Pacific Ocean. It was believed to be surrounded
with dark forests, and its shores infested with dangerous
serpents and ferocious beasts of prey.
The explorations of the surveyors in 1796 served to
dispel many erroneous notions with which the region was unjustly
regarded, and in fact the opposite extreme of believing New
Connecticut a veritable garden of Eden, whose natural advantages
and beauties were unsurpassed; whose soil was of marvelous
fertility; whose forests were magnificent in their beauty, with
trees of gigantic growth, among which roamed the deer, the elk,
and other animals affording food to man; whose streams of clear
water abounded in fish and afforded excellent sites for mills,
and whose lake was the most beautiful the eyes of man had ever
beheld. In short, it was an enchanted region, to remain
away from which evinced the greatest folly. Such were the
representations of the land company. In 1798 the settlers
began to arrive. The year 1791 most probably marks the
date when the first white man was introduced to the forests of
this region, at which time two young men were made prisoners at
the defeat of General St. Clair, on the Miami, and were
brought by a band of Seneca Indians to the banks of the
Conneaut. A full account of their captivity, of the
release of one of them from death by burning by the intercession
of an Indian maid, and their final escape from the clutches of
the red men, is given in the history of Conneaut township.
The reader is referred to that history also for a narrative of
the Conneaut hermit, — an individual found
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residing here in 1796, when the surveyors
arrived, and who has probably lived here some three or four
years prior to their coming. Mr. Kingsbury's
temporary residence at the mouth of the Conneaut, during the
winter of 1796-97, is also mentioned in the Conneaut history.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS.
The
year 1798 signalizes the arrival of the first permanent
colonists within the limits of Ashtabula County. The
eastern half of the Reserve had been surveyed, and partition
thereof had been made among the members of the Connecticut land
company. This latter event took place Jan. 29, 1798.
In the preceding year a land company was organized in
Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York, and called the Old
Harpersfield land company. The object of its formation was
the purchase of lands in the Connecticut Western Reserve.
Its members originally were Alexander Harper,
William McFarland, Joseph Harper,
Aaron Wheeler, and Roswald Hotchkiss.
Others were subsequently included in it.
In June of the same year they entered into a contract
with Messrs. Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger, of
the Connecticut land company, whereby they became possessed of
six townships of land in New Connecticut, three of which
townships were to lie east and three west of the Cuyahoga river.
In September following a committee of exploration were sent out,
who selected the lands. Number eleven of the fifth range
was one of the townships chosen, and here it was decided to
begin a settlement. The township was afterwards christened
Harpersfield.
On the 7th day of March, 1798, Alexander
Harper, Wm. McFarland, and Ezra
Gregory, with their families, started from Harpersfield, New
York, for what was to be Harpersfield, Ohio. The entire
number of these emigrants was twenty-five, as follows:
Colonel Alexander Harper and wife; their children, James
A. and Wm. A. Harper, Elizabeth and Mary
Harper, Alexander Harper, Jr., and Robert
Harper; J. Gleason, a hired man; Wm. McFarland and
wife; Ephraim Clark; Parthena Mingus, her son
William Mingus, and Benjamin Hartwell, an adopted
child; Mr. Ezra Gregory and wife, and their children,
Eli, Jonathan, Anna, Eleanor, Daniel, Thatcher, Betsey, and
Ezra.
This company embarked in sleighs and came as far as
Rome, New York, where they remained until the first of May, and
then proceeded in boats to Oswego, and thence to Queenstown, and
Fort Erie. Here they found a small vessel which was
employed by the government to transport military stores for
troops stationed at the west, and being about to sail up the
lake the company took passage. Reaching the peninsula on
the Canada side, opposite to Presque Isle, or Erie, they were
obliged to remain at that point an entire week before they could
procure boats to take them forward on their journey. Their
landing at the mouth of Cunningham’s creek was effected on the
28th day of June. That night they encamped on the shore of
the lake, and the next day Mr. Harper, accompanied
by the women and children, started on foot, following the
township line from the lake, and arrived at the place of his
future home about three o’clock in the afternoon, a distance
from the shore of the lake of about four and one-half miles.
The rest of the company having remained behind, to make sleds
whereon to transport their goods, and to cut a road for their
passage, arrived later in the evening.
A rude lodge was constructed by driving forked poles
into the earth and placing upon them other poles, which latter
received the bark and branches of threes, and in this wilderness
home the whole company dwelt together for about three weeks.
At the end of this time they had built for themselves log
cabins, and the families separated.
POPULATION OF THE RESERVE IN
1798.
At
the time of the arrival of these first permanent settlers on
Ashtabula soil there were only fifteen other families on the
Reserve, - ten of these were at Youngstown, three at Cleveland,
and two at Mentor. Three other families came this same
season, and settled in what is now Burton township, Geauga
county, and two or three others in Hudson township, Summit
county. Perhaps the number one hundred and twenty-five
would include all that were settlers upon the Reserve during the
summer and fall of 1798 and the succeeding winter, a little more
than one-fifth of which number were located upon the soil of
this county.
WHERE THEY LOCATED.
The
Harpers and Mr. McFarland settled in the
extreme northwestern part of the township, not far from the
present site of Unionville, Harper on lot No. 16, and
McFarland near the site of the present Episcopal church;
while Mr. Gregory, with his family, settled
farther to the southeast, on Grand river, lot No. 90. In
August following their arrival, J. Gleason, the hired
man, died, and shortly after Colonel Harper
himself was taken sick, and died on the 10th day of September.
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The
number of settlers within the limits of the present county of
Ashtabula during the winter of 1799-1800 was therefore not far
from fifty persons. Harpersfield outranked the other
townships as to the number of inhabitants; Con- Conneaut
came next, then Austinburg, then Windsor and Monroe.
Fresh additions were made in the spring of 1800.
The settlement in Windsor was increased by the arrival of
Solomon Griswold and family; that of Harpersfield by
the coming of Daniel Bartholomew and Mr.
Morse, with their families; that of Conneaut by the arrival
of Seth Harrington, James Harper,
and James Montgomery, with their families.
The population of Austinburg was increased by the following
arrivals: those of Joseph Case, J. M. Case, Roger Nettleton,
Joseph B. Cowles, Adam Cowles, Josiah Moses, John Wright,
Sterling Mills and family, Noah Cowles and his son
Solomon, Dr. O. K. Hawley, and Ambrose Humphrey.
The most of this numerous company made the journey from Norfolk,
Connecticut, to Austinburg on foot. The greater part of
them came without their families, returning for them after they
had erected cabins wherein they might live. Some of this
number finally took up their residence in other townships.
This was the year when the entire Reserve was erected
into a county and called Trumbull. There were then
residing in this large county, at the date of its organization,
eleven hundred and forty-four persons.
TIME OF SETTLEMENT OF EACH
TOWNSHIP.
The
following furnishes a statement of the date of settlement of
each township in the county, with the names of the first
permanent settler or settlers.
Harpersfield, 1799; Harper, Gregory, and
McFarland, emigrated from New York State.
Conneaut, 1799; Montgomery, Wright, King,
and Bemus, from New York State.
Austinburg, 1799; Austin, Beckwith, Stevens,
and Allen, from Connecticut.
Windsor, 1799; George Phelps, from
Connecticut.
Monroe, 1799; Stephen Moulton, from New
York.
Morgan, 1801; Nathan Gillett, from
Connecticut.
Pierpont, 1801; Ewins Wright, from
Connecticut.
Geneva, 1802; Tobalt Bartholomew, from
New York.
Wayne, 1803; Joshua Fobes, from
Connecticut.
New Lynn, 1803; Joel Owen, from
Connecticut.
Williamsfield, 1804; Charles Case, from
Connecticut.
Ashtabula, 1804; Matthew Hubbard, from
Connecticut.
Andover, 1805; E. Lyman, from
Connecticut.
Jefferson, 1805; Michael Webster, from
Connecticut.
Kingsville, 1805; Walter Fobes, from
Connecticut.
Plymouth, 1805; William Thompson and
Thomas McGahe.
Richmond, 1805; Yateman, Newcomb and
Tead.
Rome, 1806; William
Crowel, from Connecticut.
Lennox, 1807; Lisle Asque, from Maryland.
Denmark, 1809; Peter Knapp, from New
York.
Saybrook, 1810; George Webster, from New
York.
Orwell, 1815; A. R. Paine, from New York.
Sheffield, 1817; Chancey Atwater,
from Connecticut.
Trumbull, 1818; Daniel Woodruff, from New
York.
Cherry Valley, 1818; Nathaniel Hubbard,
from New York.
Colebrook, 1819; Joel Blakeslee,
from New York.
Dorset, 1821; John Smith, from
Massachusetts.
Hartsgrove, 1828; Thomas Burband.
EARLY POPULATION OF THE
COUNTY.
Joshua Fobes, in his narrative of the early history of
Wayne, states that about the close of 1804 the Rev. Thomas
Robbins, from Connecticut, a missionary on the Reserve, made
a thorough census of the population then upon the Reserve,
counting two bachelors one family. According to this
enumeration there were at that time ninety-three families within
the boundaries of this county, - a total population of perhaps
between four and five hundred. The largest number was in
Harpersfield, which contained twenty-seven families; the next
largest at Conneaut, which contained twenty families; then
Austinburg, where there were seventeen families; then
Morgan, where there were thirteen families. Each of the
others of the settled townships contained less than eight
families. In 1812, when the war between the United States
and Great Britain took place, the population of the county could
not have been far from fifteen hundred souls.
FIRST EVENTS
The
first house built upon the soil of the county by white people
was the one erected at the mouth of Conneaut creek, in 1796, by
the party of surveyors. It was first occupied by themselves,
then by Judge Kingsbury and his family during the winter
of 1796-97, and then by Robert and Thomas Montgomery, in
1799.
The first marriage solemnized in the county, according
to the rites of civilization, was that which occurred in March
of the year 1800, between Aaron Wright and Hannah
Montgomery, of the Conneaut settlement. The
contracting parties went to Harpersfield, and were married by
Justice Wheeler of that township, there being no
magistrate in Conneaut with authority to perform the ceremony.
The first birth of a white person in the county was the
child of Judge Kingsbury, in the winter of 1796.
(See Conneaut history.) The next birth was that of the
child of Samuel Bemus, of Conneaut, born on the 12th day
of March, 1801, and called Amelia. About the same
time a little daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. George Phelps,
of Windsor township.
The first death, with the exception of Judge
Kingsbury's child, was that of J. Gleason, Mr. Harper's
hired man, which occurred in August of the year 1798.
Mr. Harper died in September following.
The first school within the county was taught by
Miss Elizabeth Harper, afterwards Mrs. Tappen, in the
summer of 1802. The first male teacher was Mr. A.
Tappen, in the succeeding winter. The first religious
meetings were held in this same year in Harpersfield, Conneaut,
and Austinburg.
The first saw-mill was erected on Grand river, in
Austinburg, by Ambrose Humphrey, in 1801.
O. K. Hawley was the first physician in the
county, arriving in Austinburg in 1800.
FIRST DEED.
Lands
were sold and deeded and the same recorded prior to the
organization of Ashtabula County. The first deed recorded
at Jefferson is in volume "A," page one, Ashtabula County
records, and was given by Eliphalet Austin and
Sybel, his wife, to
Joab Austin, Nov. 14, 1810. The parcel of land
conveyed by this instrument consisted of fifteen (15) acres, in
lot No. 15, Austinburg township. The witnesses are
Roswell Austin and Smith Platt, and the
following is the acknowledgment: “State of Ohio, Geauga county,
ss.: Richfield, December 14, A.D. 1810. Personally
appeared Eliphalet Austin and Sybel
Austin, signers and sealers of the within instrument, and
acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed, before me,
J. R. Hawley, justice of the peace.” Indorsed as
follows: “Received the 11th May, A.D. 1811, and recorded the
17th October, 1811, in Ashtabula County records. James
A. Harper, recorder.” The first town plat recorded was that
of Jefferson village. The record may be found in Geauga
county records, September 25, A.D. 1806. Transcribed to
Ashtabula County records June 8, A.D. 1839.
DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING
BREAD.
The
problem which engaged the minds and energies of the first
settlers was how to keep from starvation. However thinly
clad, it was not difficult to escape suffering from the cold, as
fuel was plentiful and near at hand. but how to obtain a
sufficient quantity of breadstuffs during the winter months was
a question whose practical solution was often resisted by almost
insurmountable difficulties. No grain could be raised for
the first winter's supply; settlements were so few, and so
widely separated, that if they possessed the means of rendering
relief to each other, the distance, and the dense forests that
intervened, made mutual assistance extremely difficult; but the
truth is, that each settlement found that, however liberal in
heart, it lacked the ability to render help, and was obliged to
consider the law of self-preservation of first importance.
When the settlers had passed the first winter, they were able,
during the following spring and summer, to prepare a small piece
of ground and plant it with corn and vegetables; but after the
grain was harvested the obstacle of converting it to flour
presented itself. For several years after the settlers
began to arrive there were no mills within the limits of the
county. The nearest place where grain could be ground was
at Elk Creek, Pennsylvania, a distance of sixteen miles from the
Conneaut settlement. Thither settles, living nearest to
this mill, would often carry corn and wheat on their
backs, and carry the flour back again in the same manner.
Aaron Wright says, in his narrative of the early
settlement of Conneaut township, "I have often carried a bushel
and a half of wheat on my back to Elk Creek, Pennsylvania,
distance of sixteen miles, and if, on my return, my provisions
had failed, I struck a fire, dipped some water into the mouth of
my bag with my hands, and mixed my bread, and then spread it on
a basswood bark, obtained for the purpose, and baked it before
my fire."
Various means were resorted to to reduce the corn and
wheat to a condition such that bread could be made from it.
Generally the kernels were ground by a process of pounding.
The modus operandi is given in some of the township
histories, and need not be repeated here. The first
grist-mills that were con
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constructed were extremely rude and clumsy affairs, almost
always out of repair, and, when in running order, were most
toilsome and tedious in producing the needed grist. When
they would do service they were in constant requisition, and
sometimes, when the claims upon them crowded thick and fast,
they did not stop even for Sundays, reminding us of the mill
which the poet Browne describes:
"A mill . . . that never
difference kenned
'Twixt days for work and holy tides for rest,
But always wrought and ground the neighbors' grist." |
In
course of time as settlements began to enlarge and congregate at
certain points, as at Erie, Cleveland, Warren, and Painesville,
the merchant commenced to arrive with his stock of flour, salt
pork, and other necessary articles of food; and the colonists,
who were fortunate enough to have any merchantable article to
offer in exchange, were enabled to obtain a supply for winter's
use by making long, tedious, and sometimes perilous journeys.
In certain seasons of the year the wild game of the
forests and the fish from the streams supplied, in a great
measure, the needed means of subsistence; but even these
important articles of food could not appease the desire or
relish for bread.
During the entire period from the time of the earliest
settlement up to the close of the war of 1812 and even after
this time, the people were suffering from the lack of facilities
for converting their grain to flour. The mill erected by
Mr. Humphrey on Grand river, in 1801, was at no time able
to do what was required of it, and soon became totally unfit for
duty. In 1808 a mill was erected in Conneaut township by
Aaron Wright, and one in Jefferson township by John
Shook in 1809, which no afforded the inhabitants of the
county much better facilities for obtaining flour than they had
hithereto enjoyed.
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