aki^^i^ i^K? LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf .:a:....: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. m^m m PIONEERS OP THE WESTEM RESERVE BY / HARVEY RICE. SECOND EDITION. Xs^^^ BOSTON" LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 1888 \ ^^l Copyright. 1882, By UAliVEY RICE. Copy-right, I'^'^l, B\ HARVEY RICE. All rights reserved. PEEFATOET l^OTE. No attempt has been made in these pages to write a history of the Connecticut Western Reserve, nor has the delicate task been assumed of sketching at length bio- graphical notices of leading families or prominent indi- viduals who were identified with the early settlement of the country. But, on the contrary, it has been the principal aim of the writer to portray such remarkable incidents in the experiences of the original pioneers as he has been able to gather from sources which seemed worthy of credence. It is believed that these incidents have not only a histori- cal value which justifies their preservation, but a degree of dramatic interest which will be appreciated as adding zest to the stern realities of Western pioneer life. Cleveland, Oct. 20, 1882. OOS'TEKTS. CHAPTER I. Pagb Western Reserve. — Diplomacy of Gov. Winthrop. — Charter f roni Charles II. to the Connecticut Colony. — Its Surren- der demanded by James II. — Hidden in a Hollow Oak. — Reproduced and incorporated in the Constitution of Con- necticut ^ CHAPTER n. The Eries. — Ship Griffin. — French and English Trade and Strife.— Pontiac at Detroit.— His Stratagem discov- ered. —Cannibal Feast. — Major Campbell seized, assas- sinated, and his Remains mutilated. — Col. Rogers suc- ceeds him ^ CHAPTER m. Col. Bradstreet's Expedition. —Destroys Indian Villages.— Protects Detroit. —Is censured. — Retires in Disgust with his Troops. — Suffers Shipwreck near the Mouth of Rocky Riyer. — Relics found. — Dr. Kirtland . . . .17 CHAPTER IV. Boyhood of Brady and Girty. — Subsequent Life. —Brady captured by the Indians. — Condemned to be burned. — Escapes. — Hotly pursued. — Marvellous Leap. — Brady's Lake. — Rejoins his Friends 24 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Page Origin of Moravian Missions. — Early Efforts. — Driven from Huron River. — Station at Tinker's Creek. — Compelled to leave. — Attempt to stop at Black River. — Ordered to depart. — Find Refuge in Canada 81 CHAPTER VI. Surveyors arrive at Conneaut, July 4, 1796. — Celebrate the Day. — Stow's Castle. — Indian Council. — Reply of Gen. Moses Cleaveland. — Pipe of Peace. — Mutual Gifts. — The Surveys allowed. — First Wheat sown in the Re- serve 39 CHAPTER Vn. Gen. Cleaveland with a Detacliment of Sur\^eyors leaves Con- neaut. — Discovers a River. — Names it "Chagrin." — Arrives at the Mouth of the Cuyahoga River, July 22. — Selects the Spot for a City. — His Staff names it Cleave- land. —First Settlers. —Pease's Hotel. — First Live- stock. — Indian Sports. — The Bear. — Spafford's Map. — Price of Lots, — Lorenzo Carter. — James Kingsbury's Trip and Experiences. — Commerce. — Indian assassi- nated. —Dog-Feast. —Bicknell's Sad Fate ... 46 CHAPTER VIII. Additional Settlers at Cleveland. — First Dry-Goods Store. — First White Child born. —First Funeral. —First Wed- ding. —First Grist-Mill. —First Missionaiy. —First Dis- tillery. — First Public Ball. —Hair Blankets. — First School. — Modern School-System 61 CHAPTER IX. First Election Precinct. —First Postmaster. —Cleveland made a Port of Entry. — First Collector of Revenues. — CONTENTS. Vii Page Style of Early Courtship. — First Ship built. — Militia Drill. — First Court. — Execution of Omic, the Indian. — Death of Lorenzo Carter. — Farms and Ten-Acre Lots. — First Frame Barn. — Samuel Dodge 71 CHAPTER X. Gen. Hull's Surrender. — Alarm at Cleveland. — Stockade known as Fort Huntington. — Coffins of Dead Sol- diers. — Uncle Abram; his Cornfield, Bucket of Powder, and Grave. — Uncle Jabez, the Jolly Man. — Uncle Gaius, the Joker. — Young Dudley, the Scapegrace. — Cleve- land incorporated. — Its Village Government. — First Newspaper. — First Steamboat on Lake Erie . . .85 CHAPTER XL Cleveland and Vicinity. — First Panther killea in Euclid. — Rattlesnake on the Hearthstone. — James Covert and his Career. — The Bear and Churn. — Girls raise a House. — Powell no Fool. — Sheepskin Code. — Shakers and Ann Lee. — Lorenzo Dow at Cleveland 95 CHAPTER XII. The Cleveland Bar in 1828. —Riding the Circuit. — Practical Jokes. — Wood and Willey in the Legislature and on the Bench. — The Election of a Justice of the Peace con- tested. — The Result glorified. — Last Gun. — Visit of Black Hawk. — Cuyahoga River. — Col. Charles Whit- tlesey. — Indian Earthworks 113 CHAPTER XIII. The Buffalo Company's Purchase. — Land-Speculators and their Machinations. — The Incorporation of Cleveland as a City, and of Brooklyn Village as Ohio City. — The Bat- tle of the Bridge. — Adventists. — The Tabernacle. — William Miller. — Haystack Anecdote .... 127 Viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. Paqk Warren and its First Settlers. — Capt. Quinby and his Log Cabin. —The "Old Man of the Woods." —Salt Springs, and Price of Salt. —Depredations of Wild Animals.— Slaughter of the Snakes. — The First Dry-Goods Store. — A Periodical Boat on the Mahoning. — First Fourth-of- July Celebration at Warren 137 CHAPTER XV. The Whiskey Debauch at Salt Springs. — Two Indian Chiefs killed by White Men. — Consequent Alarm among the Settlers. — Arrest of McMahon for Murder. — His Trial and Acquittal. — Indians reconciled. — Burial of their Dead. — First Territorial Court held at Warren between two Corn-Cribs. — Trials of Daniel Shehy and Lorenzo Carter. — First Post-Route. — Simon Perkins, Postmas- ter. — Trump of Fame. — Banks and Bankers . . . 147 CHAPTER XVL Rev. Joseph Badger, Mission and Career. — Exemplary Char- acter of First Settlers at Warren. — Ashtabula County. — Jefferson, the County Seat. — Its Founder and its Emi- nent Men. — Conneaut, originally an Indian Town. — Two White Captives made to run the Gauntlet. — Ancient Burial-Ground. — " The Chip " and its Record . . .164 CHAPTER XVn. Harpersfield and its First Settlers. — Threatened Famine. — Two Heroic Young Men. — One breaks through the Ice. — Deacon Hudson. — Church at Austinburgb. — Wonderful Revival. — Antics of Converts. — Infallibility of Judge Austin. — His Decision as to Church-Membership . . 177 CONTENTS, CHAPTER XVIII. Page Woodmen of Geneva. — Morse's Slough. — Bread cast on the Waters. — Comic Sequel. — A Hunter attacked by Wolves. — Attempt of Two Women to shoot a Bear. — - The Deer-Hunter of Conneaut drifted in a Canoe across theLake. — His Experiences and Safe Return . , .186 CHAPTER XIX. Chardon. — Burton. — First Settlers. — Their Trials and Hardships. — Acting as their own Doctors and Mechan- ics.— The Hurricane. —John Miner and his Children. — Early Judicial Proceedings in Geauga County. —Judge Pease pronounces Sentence on Robert Meeker. — Explora- tion of a Mound I97 CHAPTER XX. Ravenna. —Its Founder, Benjamin Tappan. — His Experi- ences. — His Reply when asked for a Church Subscrip- tion. — Lewis Day s Arrival at Deerfield. — Want of Sup- plies. — First White Child. — Matrimonial Engagement. — Messenger sent to Warren for a Justice of the Peace to **tie the Knot" 208 CHAPTER XXI. Arrival of the Young Magistrate and his Legal Adviser from Warren. —Performance of the Nuptial Ceremonies.— Merriment of the Festivities. — Characteristics of the Two Calvins.— Horse Trade with the Indians.— Trouble which grew out of it. — Mohawk shoots Daniel Diver. — Flight of the Indians. —Nicksaw and Mohawk overtaken and killed. —Trial of their Associates, and Acquittal 216 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. Page Characteristics of Huron County. — Founder of Norwalk. — Its First House. — Church Horn. — Two Trappers mur- dered by Indians. — The Murderers arrested, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. — Break Jail, and escape. — Re- arrested and hanged. — Their Rehgious Belief . . . 226 CHAPTER XXIII. Harrisville and its Founder. — Explorers from Wooster, and their Experiences. — The Cold Winter. — The Ancient Pathway of Indian Travel. — Their Hunts, and Methods of Transportation. — Differences of Races. — Indian The- ology 233 CHAPTER XXIV. The Grand Circular Hunt. —Its Wonderful Results. —The Name ''Medina" a Vexed Question. — Zenas Hamilton its First Settler. — County Court held in a Barn. — Rev. Roger Searle. — First Wedding. — Styles of Dress. — Low Prices of Farm Produce. — Social Distinctions . . 241 CHAPTER XXV. Lorain County. — Lake-Shore Ridges. — Geology of the North- western Lakes. — Heman Ely. — Name of Elyria. — Falls of Black River. — Rocks and Caves. — Girls caught bath- ing. — Stone Relics and Inscriptions. — River-Valley. — Rev. John J. Shipherd, the Founder of Oberlin College . 250 CHAPTER XXVI. How Erie and Sandusky derived their Names. — The City founded on a Rock. — A Record of the Lost Ages. — Na- ture's Idea. — Distressed Family. —How a Lady crossed Black River. —Boys captured at a Bee-Tree. — Casta- lia. — Discovery of a Cave 259 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXVII. Page Wliy called " Summit." —David Hudson and his Career.— Akron, so named by Olcott. — Its First Settlers. — Minor Spicer and the Indian Hunter. — Akron Flour-Mills and "Brand." — Cuyahoga Falls. — Swapping Horses. — Stow and a Party of Surveyors luxuriate on Rattle- snakes. — The Twin Brothers and Twinsburgh . . .269 CHAPTER XXVIII. Early Settlement at Mentor. — Judge Walworth and Gen. Paine. — Painesville. —Old Seneca, the Indian Chief. — Hon. Samuel Huntington and his Great Expectations. — How he was attacked by Wolves. — First House built in Lake County. — Bones and Relics. — Pagan Baptism. — Little Mountain 28.3 CHAPTER XXIX. Little Things. — Joe Smith. — Discovery and Translation of the Golden Plates, or Book of Mormon. — Novel written by Solomon Spalding. —How Rev. Sidney Rigdon ob- tained the Manuscript. —Scheme of Smith and Rigdon. — Latter-Day Saints. — Temple at Kirtland. — Removal to Nauvoo. — Flight into the Western Wilderness. — Salt Lake City. — The Prophet 295 CHAPTER XXX. Ottawa and the Islands. —Battle of Lake Erie. —Burial of the Dead at Put-in-Bay. — Ashland a Piece of Patch- work. — Daniel Carter its First Settler. — David Burns a Grand Juror. — Early Settlement at .leromeville. — Capt. Pipe, the Indian Chief. — Fate of his Daughter and her Lover XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXI. Page Mahoning, why so named. — Abounds in Coal, Iron, and Salt Springs. — John Young. — Canfield and Youngstown. — Enterprising Population. — Murder of Kribs and of two other Men. — Terrible Fight with Indian Marauders on the Banks of Yellow Creek. 322 CHAPTER XXXn. The Happy Valley. — Meeting of Old Friends. — Rev. Wil- liam Wick and his Legacy. — How a Contractor carried the Mail. — First Wedding at Poland. — Two Sisters drowned. — Re-union of Pioneers at Youngstown. — Untold Love 330 CHAPTER XXXni. The Western Reserve. — Her Pioneer Life and her Modem Life. — Comparative Characteristics. — The Eminent Men she has produced. — Her Unborn Future . , , .341 PIOIsTEEES OF THE WESTEEI^T EESEEYE. CHAPTER I. Western Reserve. — Diplomacy of Gov. WrNTHROP. — Charter FROM Charles II. to the Connecticut Colony. — Its Sur- render DEMANDED BY JaMES II. — HlDDEN IN A HOLLOW OaK. — Reproduced, and incorporated in the Constitution of Connecticut. There are many incidents connected with the early settlement of the Connecticut Western Re- serve which possess an interest scarcely less seduc- tive than the fascinations of romance. In fact, they constitute what may be regarded as the romance of pioneer life, though founded in truth. There is something truly sublime in the valorous spirit of the times, which led to the transformation of a remote wilderness into a land of beauty, wealth, and social refinement. The early pioneers who con- tributed so largely to accomplish this result exhib- ited, in the midst of embarrassments, a degree of 1 2 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. courage and perseverance which not only challenges our admiration, but is worthy of the heroic age. The north-eastern part of Ohio, known as the Western Reserve, embraces a territory containing nearly three and a half millions of acres. It is so called because it was "reserved" as the rightful share of the State of Connecticut in the final adjust- ment of colonial land-claims made by Congress between the States soon after the close of the Revolution. It seems somewhat surprising, how- ever, that the little State of Connecticut should have succeeded in obtaining so large a share of the "spoils." But the fact shows that Connecticut, even in the days of her youth, was shrewd at a bargain, — a peculiar trait of character, which has grown with her growth, and strengthened with her strength. The truth is, she always did love land and liberty, and has always thought she could not have too much of either. She began life by helping herself, and still con- tinues the practice ; yet she abounds in good works, but has a policy of her own, and generally acts from motives of policy. As an evidence of her benefi- cence, she gave at an early day, to such of her citizens as had lost their property by fire and sword in the Revolution, five hundred thousand acres of her Western Reserve lands, since known as tlie INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 3 "fire-lands." This was a generous act, and a practi- cal recognition of the golden rule. In acquiring title to her Western Reserve lands from the English crown in 1662, she resorted to a diplomacy not less artful than successful. She was then known as the Connecticut Colony, and had sympathized with Cromwell in his efforts to establish a protectorate on the ruins of the English monarchy. In attempting to achieve power, Cromwell had sanctioned the execution of Charles I., and sought to exterminate Charles II. on the battle-field, who adroitly evaded pursuit by springing into the branches of an oak, and hiding himself within its dense foliage. In a few years afterward the death of Cromwell, in connection with the speedy down- fall of the protectorate, resulted in restoring Charles II. to the throne, who hated the memory of Crom- well with a hatred so intense that he ordered his dead body to be disinterred, hanged, and buried under the gallows. The colonists, though fearing their sympathies with Cromwell had prejudiced the king against them, did not despair of obtaining from his Majesty a grant of more land and liberty. They therefore proceeded at once to acknowledge their allegiance to Charles II. They then prepared the draught of such a charter as they desired, and delegated their 4 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. shrewdest diplomatist, Gov. Winthrop, to visit England, present it to the king, and request his approval and royal signature. The governor accepted the mission, proceeded to England, obtained an informal interview with the king, and, by way of introducing the subject of his mission, exhibited a rich finger-ring of massive gold, set with a costly diamond, which the king's father, Charles I., had bestowed in his lifetime on the father of Gov. Winthrop as a mark of honor for valuable political services. This unexpected exhibit of the ring touched the heart of Charles, and moved him to tears, when Gov. Winthrop, availing himself of the golden moment, presented the prepared charter, and requested the royal approval and signature. By its specific terms the charter granted to the Connecticut Colony the rights and liberties of self- government, and so enlarged her territory as to in- clude the New Haven Colony, and extend westward from the Narragansett River to the Pacific Ocean. His Majesty, after hearing the charter read, asked the distance from the Eastern to the Western sea, and received an expression of belief from Winthrop that the latter could be seen from the Western hill- tops that bounded the colony. Accepting this infor- mation as satisfactory, his Majesty cheerfully affixed to the charter his royal seal and signature. It is INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 5 hardly probable that either the king or Winthrop had any just conception of the vast territory in- cluded in the grant. However this may have been, it is quite certain that the king did not compre- hend, the amplitude of his generosity. It was an instance in which diplomatic art achieved more than it anticipated. "The pleasure, doubtless, is as great Of being cheated as to cheat." At any rate, Gov. Winthrop was highly delighted with the success of his mission, and, bearing the charter with him, returned with all possible despatch to his constituents in America, who received him with enthusiastic demonstrations of applause. By this liberal charter the Connecticut Colony received more land and liberty than she had expected, but not more than she was quite willing to accept. On admission into the Union as a State, Connecticut still claimed the vast sweep of Western territory as specified in the colonial charter granted by Charles n. ; but a conflict of claims to this territory in- duced Congress to interfere, and settle the conflict by awarding to Connecticut so much of her claim only as is embraced within the limits of what is now known as the "Western Reserve." This was ac- cepted by Connecticut as a final adjustment. 6 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, When Charles II. was succeeded by James II., the new monarch attempted to adopt a restrictive policy in reference to the colonists ; and, as a preliminary step, appointed Andross to the governorship of New England, and directed him not only to assume authority over the Connecticut Colony, but to de- mand a surrender of her charter, which had been so graciously granted by his royal predecessor. Gov. Andross, fearing opposition, marched on Hartford, where the Colonial Assembly was in ses- sion, with a military force of seventy men, and demanded, with an imperious air, the surrender of the charter, which was promptly produced and laid on the table. The moment this was done, the Assembly commenced an animated debate on the question of its surrender. The discussion con- tinued until nightfall, when lights were sent for and brought; but, when the lights appeared, the charter had disappeared. Its sudden abstraction was a mystery, and produced a sensation. Not a soul could be found who could explain the matter ; and thereupon, amid confusion, the Assembly ad- journed. In due time, however, after all danger of losing the charter had passed, a man known as Capt. Wardsworth, a patriotic colonist, disclosed the fact, that, while the Assembly was sitting in darkness INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES, 7 awaiting the lights, he seized the charter, sprang out of the open window, and concealed it in the hollow trunk of a sturdy old oak, which stood but a little distance from the legislative hall in which the Assembly was convened. This has ever been regarded as an adroit feat. It had the effect to preserve intact what the colonists most loved, — the charter of their land and of their liberties. In fact, the colonists revered this charter ; and, when Connecticut became a State, she adopted it as her constitution. The hollow oak in which the charter was hidden acquired a wonderful fame from this incident, be- came a shrine of liberty, and was reverently visited by thousands of pilgrims. It stood erect until within a few years, unconscious of its own fame and the homage it received, when it was rudely assailed by a violent storm, and heroically fell in battle with the elements. It was indeed a "brave old oak," worthy the Puritanic soil in which it grew. In years w^hile it was yet standing the writer of these pages had the gratification of paying it a reverential visit, and of plucking from its branches a leaf, which he still preserves as a precious memento of its history. The oak has come to be regarded as a patriotic emblem. In ancient times it was revered as a 8 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. "sacred tree." The Druids believed in its divine powers. History has proved that it possesses a saving power. It saved the life of Charles II., and preserved within its heart the true principles of American freedom. It bequeathed to England her loyal " hearts of oak," and to America her " tree of Uberty." « Though girt with forests and a mountain chain, Whose slopes and glens and secret caverns dark Had ever been the red man's wild domain, The Pilgrims clung to hope's expiring spark, And struggled with their foes, and set the mark Of empire there on Ocean's circling strand, And, like the chosen few who left the ark, Went forth to scatter blessings through the land, And rear the < tree of liberty ' with fostering hand." INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. CHAPTER 11. The Eries. — Ship GRiFFm. — French and English Trade and Strife. — PoNTiAC at Detroit. — His Stratagem discovered. — Cannibal Feast. —Major Campbell seized, assassinated, AND HIS REilAINS MUTILATED. — COL. ROGERS SUCCEEDS HIM. The Indians, prior to the organization of Con- necticut as a State, had occupied what is now called the Western Reserve for unknown centuries, and were, in fact, the rightful proprietors of the entire Western wilderness. The tribe known as the "Eries " was a warlike race, who occupied the south-eastern borders of Lake Erie, and from whom the lake takes its name. At an early period they attacked the " Five Nations " of New York, suffered an indis- criminate slaughter, and, as a race, soon afterwards became extinct. Their principal record is that of the mounds which still exist in considerable numbers along the southerly shore-lands of the lake. The Eries were succeeded by fragmentary tribes of other Indian races. It is not certain at what date white men first visited this region of country ; but it is known that as early as 1679 La Salle, a French adventurer, 10 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. launched on the waters of Lake Erie a vessel of sixty tons burden, which he named the " Griffin." He built the vessel at a point near Buffalo, and coasted along the southerly shore with a view to exploration and the fur trade with the aborigines, and doubtless intended to continue his voyage to the upper lakes. As the Griffin, with her sails spread to the breeze, approached the lake-coast of the Western Reserve, the natives were stricken with astonishment at the grotesqueness of the sudden apparition, and believed it to be a white-winged demon sent from the clouds by the Great Spirit to chastise or devour them. As the vision seemed to them partly to walk and partly fly on the water, they feared it might do the same thing on land, and, becoming greatly frightened, fled into the wilderness, and hid them- selves in its dark recesses, and thus failed to reap the advantages of a friendly commerce. The Grif- fin continued on her voyage up the lake, reached Green Bay, purchased a cargo of furs, and, while returning, was, as is supposed, lost in a storm. La Salle, in the mean time, with a select party, pro- ceeded to explore the valley of the Mississippi, and, after various haps and mishaps, was killed by one of his mutinous comrades. But, when the French had established trading-posts at different points along INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 11 the lake-coast, the Indians were not long in over- coming their native timidity, nor were they slow in comprehending the avaricious motives of the white traders. The lessons thus learned soon made them adepts in practising the " tricks of trade," and often an overmatch in the metaphysical subtleties of logic. The English soon followed the French in estab- lishing commercial intercourse with the Indians along the coast-line of the great chain of lakes. This manifestation of commercial greed on the part of the English, in connection with other movements, aroused the suspicions of the Indians, and induced them to believe that the white race intended ulti- mately to exterminate the red race, and occupy the entire country. This state of feeling on the part of the Indians contributed largely to produce the out- break of hostilities in 1763, known as " the Pontiac War." Pontiac was a bold and daring chief, and possessed of great tact and influence. He, in conspiracy with other tribes occupying the region west of the Cuya- hoga River, attacked several of the English trading- posts, and massacred their garrisons. He even threatened to exterminate every Englishman who had intruded within the limits of his wild domains. He was, however, a true friend of the French, though an implacable enemy of the English. He 12 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. was as deceitful as he was bold and brave. He made an attempt to misguide the commander of the English forces when marching on Detroit with a view to dislodge the French from the fort. But ' the English succeeded in expelling the French, and in detailing a small force in command of Major Glad- wyn to maintain possession and strengthen the fortifications. Pontiac, whose warriors were encamped in the vicinity of Detroit, conceived the idea of retaking the fort by stratagem. He contrived to send a mes- sage to Major Gladwyn, that he and a select few of his warriors desired to hold a council with him at the fort on the next day, with a desire to adjust difficulties and brighten the " chain of peace." The request was cheerfully granted. In the mean time Pontiac had selected his favorite braves who were to accompany him, and directed them to saw off their rifles so as to conceal them under their blankets, and, at a given sign during the session of the council, to rise and massacre the entire garrison. It so happened, that, on the evening previous to holding the council, an Indian woman, who had been employed by Major Gladwyn to make him. a pair of elk-skin moccasons, was admitted into the fort to return the moccasons with the remaining part of the skin, and receive her pay. The major was so INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 13 well pleased with the moccasons, that, after paying for them, he requested the woman to retain the remnant of the skin, and make him another pair. It was observed that she took the remaining part of the skin with apparent reluctance. When she reached the gate of the fort which opened on the river, she lingered, and seemed unwilling to pro- ceed. The guard inquired the reason, but received no satisfactory reply. He then reported her to the major, who ordered her into his presence, and demanded to know why she lingered at the gate. She replied that she had been treated kindly, knew that he valued the elk-skin, and therefore did not wish to take it away with her as she could never return it. The commandant thought this a strange reason, and demanded an explanation. The Indian woman, after being assured of her personal safety, disclosed the nefarious plot which Pontiac had devised to be carried into execution the next day at the council. The woman was then dismissed from the fort; but the commandant, though dis- crediting the story, deemed it prudent to see that the garrison was forewarned and forearmed. The next day (May 9, 1763), prompt to the hour appointed for holding the council, Pontiac appeared at the gate of the fort, accompanied by a band of his favorite warriors, and was admitted. They were 14 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. all seated on the ground in a circle, and in presence of Commandant Gladwyn. Pontiac seemed sur- prised to see the men of the fort with arms in their hands, and inquired the cause. He was then assured that such was the customary practice at public recep- tions. Pontiac, with a manifest look of distrust, then commenced the proceedings of the council by an impassioned harangue, in which he professed a sincere friendship for the English ; but, when he arrived at the point at which the ominous sign was to be given, he gave his warriors, to their astonish- ment, a sign denoting silence, and, when he had con- cluded his harangue, sat down with an air of cool indifference. The commandant then approached the circle of Indian warriors, opened the folds of several of their blankets, and thus exposed their short rifles as evi- dence of their treachery ; when, turning to Pontiac, he accused him of insincerity and a murderous design, and then ordered him and his warriors to depart without the least delay, and be thankful that their lives had been spared them. The moment they saw the gate of the fort opened, they took to their heels, and rushed out with all possible speed, and, when at a safe distance, turned and fired on the fort, accompanying the act with an unearthly war- whoop. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 15 These savage fiends, while on their way to camp, murdered an English woman and her two sons, who resided in a cabin on the commons, scalped them, and then made soup of a part of the woman, and invited a friendly Frenchman to partake of the repast with them, and, when the feast was concluded, asked him if he knew what he had eaten. He said he supposed it a soup made of deer-meat. They then told him the truth of the matter, when he nearly fainted at the shock the information gave him. Pontiac, encouraged by the aid of a French fac- tion, made every effort in his power to destroy the English settlements and demolish the fort of Detroit. He directed his warriors to shoot blazing arrows into the chapel and other buildings, with a view to pro- duce a general conflagration, and thus drive out the English and destroy the garrison. During the siege the Indians attempted to make a breach in the pick- ets, when the commandant of the fort, by way of stratagem, ordered his men to aid the savages by breaking into the pickets on the inside in the same direction, but took care to place a cannon loaded with grape-shot pointing directly in the line of the fiends as they should enter the fort. The breach was soon effected. The Indians began to rush in a solid body into the fort, yelling and brandishing 16 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. their tomahawks and scalping-knives, when the can- non was discharged, cutting a wide furrow through their entire line. The slaughter was fearful. The survivors, panic-stricken, turned and fled in every direction. Directly after this occurrence Major Campbell was placed in command of the fort. The siege was still continued with various successes and disasters on the part of both the English and the Indians. Pontiac finally succeeded by strategy in securing the person of Campbell, and proposed to spare his life and set him free if he would surrender the fort. This he peremptorily refused to do, and was soon afterwards assassinated by a revengeful Indian. The assassin, with a few other Indians who approved the act, disembowelled their victim, boiled and ate his heart, and then skinned his arms, and made pouches of the skin. The treacherous deed, how- ever, was condemned by Pontiac, who would have slain the assassin had he not effected his escape. In the mean time Col. Rogers had assumed the command of the fort, and for months, night and day, employed every soldier and servant of the garrison in guarding the ramparts, and in watching the move- ments of the crafty Indians, until re-enforcements, long expected, could arrive, and relieve him from the imminent danger to which he was exposed. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 17 CHAPTER III. Col. Bradstreet's Expedition. — Destroys Indian Villages.— Protects Detroit. — Is censured. — Retires in Disgust with HIS Troops. — Suffers Shipwreck near the Mouth of Rocky River. —Relics found. — Dr. Kirtland. The English had been dispossessed of most of their military posts in the region of the lakes by the allied forces of the French and Indians, prior to the arrival of Col. Bradstreet. The fort of Detroit was one of the few remaining forts held by the English. This fort contained supplies of great value, and commanded the entrance to the upper lakes. It was therefore important that the English should maintain possession, though the attempt at this time seemed almost hopeless. The English government sent out a re-enforcement, consisting of three thousand men, in command of Col. Bradstreet, who embarked his troops in open boats at Niagara late in the summer of 1764, and, on his voyage up the lake, landed a detachment of his troops at Saudusky Bay, burned the villages, and destroyed the cornfields of the hostile Indians in that vicinity and along the valley of the Maumee 18 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. River, and then proceeded with his entire force to Detroit. His arrival discouraged the enemy from making further attempts to maintain the siege, and induced the French and their Indian allies to con- clude a treaty of peace on the terms offered them. Pontiac felt chagrined, and refused to take any part in the negotiation, though earnestly solicited, and very soon retired to the valley of the Mississippi River, where he was assassinated about the year 1767 by an Indian belonging to his own tribe, who had accepted a bribe from an English trader of a barrel of rum. Thus fell Pontiac, a great warrior and still greater strategist. Not long after the treaty had been concluded, a serious disaffection occurred between Col. Bradstreet and his superior in command, growing out of a severe censure pronounced by the latter on the conduct of the former. Col. Bradstreet regarded the censure as entirely unjust ; . and, feeling highly indignant, he withdrew his troops, some eleven hun- dred men, who were then with him in Detroit, and, without even waiting to recall his scouts, re-embarked with a view to return to Niagara. On his voyage down the lake he encountered a violent storm ; and, in order to save himself and the lives of his troops, he directed his pilot, who was a Frenchman, to steer for shore at the first practicable point where they INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 19 could safely land. The pilot, either from ignorance or treachery, conducted the flotilla against a rock- bound coast near the mouth of Rocky River, and not far from Cleveland. The result was the ship- wreck of all the boats, with the loss of nearly all the troops. The survivors, after the storm had subsided, gath- ered from the wreck such provisions and arms as they could find, and, with such preparations as they could make, undertook to accomplish the remaining distance (some two hundred miles) to Niagara by travelling on foot along the line of the lake-shore through an unbroken wilderness. In doing this, they suffered untold hardships, while many of them died on the way. It is said that the forlorn appear- ance of the few who finally reached their destination beggars description. The precise spot on the lake-shore where the shipwreck occurred is not known; but, judging from relics which have from time to time been found along the beach since the country has been settled, it is evident that this unfortunate disaster must have happened at a little distance west from the junction of Rocky River with the lake. It is probable that the pilot intended to enter that river with the flotilla intrusted to his guidance, and that he, through stress of weather, rather than tl^ough ignorance or treachery, failed in the attempt. 20 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. How many lives were lost is not known ; but the number must have been very great, as would seem from the remaining old grave-pits which are still visible at different points on the bank of the lake in the vicinity of the disaster. A great many relics have been picked up on the sand-beach, which have from time to time drifted ashore, or been exposed by the action of the waves. In fact, the citizens resident in that neighborhood are still finding more or less of these relics. They consist of a great variety of articles, — such as silver spoons, knives and forks, bayonets, sword-blades, gun-barrels, flints, stocks, and trimmings, and also French and English coins of gold, silver, and copper, some bearing date as far back as the year 1714, and some in 1717, 1749, and 1764. In addition to these, other relics have been found, — such as a surgeon's amputating- knife, musket-balls, cannon-balls, bolts and rings, Indian amulets, an iron tomahawk so constructed as to furnish a smoking-pipe as well as a deadly weapon, and also fragments of boat-timber. It was reported by the survivors that the flotilla was armed with six pieces of brass cannon, which, with an iron treasure-box containing gold and silver coin, were lost in the wreck. It is quite probable that the brass cannon and the treasure-box still lie em- bedded in the sand-beach, and may yet be discovered. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 21 It will be a piece of rare good luck for him who is so fortunate as to find the treasure-box. For what is already known in respect to this ship- wreck and the relics which have been found and collected, the public is largely indebted to the inde- fatigable researches and industry of the distinguished naturalist, Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, late of Rockport township. He was a man of whom Ohio, and every friend of science, may well be proud. He loved Nature, and held divine communion with her. From her teachings he derived a degree of wisdom which few men have ever attained. In the department of medical science he excelled as a professional lecturer and practitioner ; yet he led a modest and un- ostentatious life, never displaying his learning from motives of vanity, but rather suppressing it. He enjoyed a wide reputation both as a geologist and horticulturist, and for this reason was often visited by scientific men devoted to these subjects. Sir Charles Lyell, the English geologist, paid him a visit while travelling in the United States, and speaks of him with great respect in his book of travels. Sundry amusing anecdotes are afloat respecting Dr. Kirtland. He had a way of his own. He relished a joke, and could perpetrate a joke. One day, while he was at work in his garden of fruits 22 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. and flowers, a stranger, devoted to horticulture and finely dressed, drove up in front of his door in a carriage, and seeing in the garden an old man clad in working clothes, huge straw hat, and shoeless, busily disturbing the earth around some choice plants, shouted, "Halloo! Does Dr. Kirtland live here?" "He does," replied the old man, resting on his hoe. " Is he at home, then ? " cried the stranger. " Yes, sir : he is," replied the workman, wiping the sweat from his face meanwhile. " Well, please come out here, and hold my horse until I can call in and see him," rejoined the caller, jumping from his carriage. "Certainly," replied the old man, dropping his hoe, turning up his pantaloon-legs one more lap, and walking briskly out into the muddy street. The stranger gave him the reins, and sprang nimbly to the front-door of the house. A lady appeared in answer to his knock, and asked him to step in. "I simply called out to examine the doctor's farm," said the visitor, introducing himself. " Can I see Dr. Kirtland a moment?" " Most assuredly," replied the lady, with a twinkle in her eye : " you will find him out yonder in the street^ holding a horse,'^ INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 23 The visitor took in the situation at a glance, and, hurrying out, joined with Dr. Kirtland in a hearty laugh. They viewed the farm. The doctor was ever genial and pleasant in his social intercourse. He loved his many friends, and received them with the kindest cordiality, whether of high or low degree. The simplicity of his man- ners and his amiable traits of character were truly beautiful, and won the hearts of all who made his acquaintance. In a word, he lived like a philosopher, and died like a philosopher. And now — " He walks with God the stellar deep, Where tides of light unbounded sweep." 24 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. CHAPTER IV. Boyhood of Beady and Girty. — Subsequent Lube. — Brady captured by the indians. — condemned to be burned. — Escapes. — Hotly pursued. — Marvellous Leap. — Brady's Lake. — Rejoins his Friends. Capt. Samuel Brady was one of the most re- markable men known to the traditional history of Western frontier life. When but a child the death of his father and mother deprived him of a home, and he was placed in the family of one of his father's relatives in the western part of Pennsylvania. The family in which he was received had previously adopted a young lad as a son, whose name was Simon Girty. Brady and Girty were nearly of the same age, and as they grew to manhood came to regard each other as brothers. They were bred in the wilderness, and accustomed to hardships. They loved excitement, and were ever ready to engage in bold and reckless adventures. About the time they became of age, the Indians made an unexpected incursion on the small settle- ment where they resided, and cruelly massacred nearly every family within its limits. But, as it INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 25 happened, both Brady and Girty succeeded in making their escape; yet in their flight they took different directions, and finally became denizens at different localities in the great North-Western wilder- ness. In the course of a few months Brady was selected and made captain of a brave band of civilized traders and adventurers, and Girty the chief of several Indian tribes. They adapted them- selves to their new relations in life, and, in after years, often met in battle as chieftains of their respective forces without recognition. The results on both sides were often as disastrous as successful. Hence both were regarded as invincible chieftains. In fact, Brady became the terror of the Indians, while Girty became the scourge of the white settle- ments. In or about the year 1780 Brady, with a small force of twenty men, undertook to steal a march on the Indian villages at Sandusky, but was waylaid by a party of Indians lying in ambush in the vicinity of Kent, in Summit County, near a small lake, now known as Brady's Lake, where, after a sharp fight, all his force, with the exception of himself and one man, were killed. He and his surviving companion- in-arms took to their heels, and sought safety in the dense forest. But the Indians, knowing Brady, and desiring to capture him alive if possible, pursued 26 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. him with their united forces, and soon succeeded in making him their prisoner. They disarmed him, bound his hands behind his back, and proceeded with him to the Indian villages at Sandusky. When the party with their prisoner arrived at the villages, there was a universal demonstration of joy among the Indians. Preparations were at once made for his execution by " fire and fagot," and all the neighboring tribes of that region were invited to attend and participate in the cruel festivities of the occasion. In the mean time, though unsuspected by Brady, his manly ap- pearance had won the sympathies of a young Indian maiden, who was the daughter of a distinguished chief, and who appealed to her father to spare the cap- tive's life. Her appeal was met by a severe rebuke. On the day appointed, thousands of plumed war- riors, with their women and children, appeared, and surrounded the funeral pyre to which the prisoner was bound, awaiting the application of the torch. At this moment the prisoner recognized in the circle of chiefs that surrounded him the companion of his boyhood, whom he had loved as a brother, Simon Girty, disguised as an Indian chief, and to whom he appealed to save his life. But Girty, more of a sav- age than his savage associates, turned a deaf ear, and with cool indifference refused to listen to the INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 27 appeal, though sufficiently pathetic to have melted the heart of a stone. The torch was applied. The flames soon rose like billows, surging around the victim, when the sympa- thizing Indian maiden, in a moment of frenzy, rushed towards him with the design to release him, or die in the attempt. The fire had already weakened the cords with which the victim was bound ; and being entirely unaware of the maiden's kind intentions, and writh- ing in agony, he sundered the bands that bound him, sprang forward, seized the maiden, flung her into the midst of the consuming flames, and then ran for dear life into the adjoining forest. This sudden and unexpected feat, in connection with the unearthly screams of the maiden, so paralyzed the Indians with astonishment, that a considerable time elapsed before they could comprehend the matter, or rescue the maiden from her perilous condition. This delay enabled Brady to penetrate the forest to a consider- able distance before the Indians could rally and commence pursuit. The Indians, however, soon ral- lied, and gave chase on the track of their escaped victim, inspired by a merciless spirit of revenge. Brady expected pursuit, and, though weakened by the tortures he had suffered, sped before his pursuers like an antelope. The Indians raised the war-cry, and quickened their strides as they ran. 28 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. On the second day of the pursuit, as night ap- proached, the Indians came in sight of their victim. They attempted to surround him, but in the dark- ness of nightfall he eluded them. But soon after- wards the full moon arose in such splendor as to render it easy to see and be seen at considerable dis- tances beneath the shadows of the trees. The Indians in the mean time had lost the track of their victim, and were delayed in their endeavors to regain it until broad daylight the next day. Brady had now reached the vicinity of the Cuya- hoga River, a distance of nearly one hundred miles, after travelling day and night for nearly forty-eight hours, when he sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree to take a few moments' rest ; but hearing a faint sound in the air, and putting his ear close to the ground, Indian-like, he at once recognized the near approach of his savage pursuers, and in a few minutes more saw them coming in full chase directly towards him. The moment he sprang to his feet the bloodthirsty savages discovered liim, and sounded the war-whoop with a terrific yell, and quickened their speed with the expectation of capturing him on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, which they would soon reach. The land descended somewhat in the direction of the river. This fact enabled Brady to increase the speed of his flight; and when he reached INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 29 the yawning chasm in the rocks through which the river flows, though dark, deep, and twenty feet wide, he leaped the gulf at a bound, and soon disappeared in the distance on the other side. The Indians fol- lowed close upon his heels ; but, when they reached the fearful gulf and saw that he had leaped it and disappeared, they were struck dumb with amazement, and came to the conclusion that he was the favorite of the Great Spirit, who had given him wings to elude their grasp. This belief induced most of the Indians to abandon further pursuit, and to return to their villages at Sandusky ; while a few of them, less credulous, resolved to cross the river, and, if possible, recapture the fugitive. The few Indians who continued the pursuit, after crossing the river, discovered the blood-stained foot- prints which the lacerated feet of Brady had left behind him, and, following the direction, found that he had reached the shore of a small inland lake at no great distance from the river. His last footstep indicated that he had entered the lake. They trav- ersed the entire circuit of the lake, but could dis- cover no other evidence of his direction. They then concluded that he had undertaken to swim the lake, and was drowned in the attempt. Believing this to be the fact, they gave up further search as useless, and sat down together on the trunk of an aged tree 30 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. which had fallen into the lake, leaving its massive upturned roots still clinging to the bank, and beneath which Brady had secreted himself. He had craftily deceived his pursuers as to his direction by leaving his last footprint on the sand-beach at some distance away, and swimming thence to his hiding-place. Here he overheard the conversation of the Indians while they were sitting on the fallen tree directly over him, and to his great joy learned that they had given up all hope of finding him, and would now return to Sandusky. They soon started ; and, when they had passed beyond sight and hearing, Brady emerged from his hiding-place, and congratulated himself on his hair-breadth escape. He soon reached a neighboring white settlement, and, after recovering from the effects of his exhaustion and severe suffer- ings, rejoined his friends on the frontier, who at once restored him to the captaincy. His bitter experi- ences had increased his hatred of Indians, and led him to renew with more zeal than ever his desultory warfare with them along the entire line of the West- ern frontier. This he lived to do for many years with success. The rocky chasm over which he leaped, and the lake where he hid himself, will doubtless remain for all time as monuments to his memory; the one being known as Brady's Leap, and the other as Brady's Lake. Such is fame. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 31 CHAPTER V. Obigin of Moravian Missions. — Early Efforts. — Driven from Huron River. — Station at Tinker's Creek. — Compelled TO LEAVE. — Attempt to stop at Black River. — Ordered TO DEPART. — Find Refuge in Canada. The Moravians were the first Protestant mission- aries who penetrated the wilds of the Western Re- serve. They derive their name from Moravia, a province of Austria, and were originally organized as a Christian society, under the name of United Brethren, by Count Zinzendorf, who became their bishop. Zinzendorf was born a religious enthusiast, and, as he grew to manhood, became a man of great wealth and influence. When but a child, and so soon as he had learned to write, he often addressed letters to Jesus Christ, and flung them out of the window upon the wings of the wind, believing that they would be wafted up to heaven, and be read by his Divine Master, and answered by a letter in return. While in the prime of manhood, Zinzendorf, as early as 1741, visited North America, accompanied by his daughter, who was then but sixteen years of 32 PIONEERS OF TEE WESTERN RESERVE. age, and, with her assistance, succeeded in establish- ing several missions among the Indian tribes, re- mained two years, and then returned with his daughter to Europe. In his own country his fol- lowers soon became numerous, and were generally inspired with a missionary spirit, and especially with a desire to convert the Indians of the Western World to Christianity. Among the many of his adherents who engaged in this benevolent and philanthropic work were the two heroic apostles Zeisberger and Heckewelder. They were admirably fitted from education and a natural love of adventure to fight the good fight of Faith in the Western wilderness. They were not less morally brave than enthusiastic, and trusted in God, knowing no fear except the fear of God. While they took their lives in their hands in their intercourse with the Indians, they carried with them no ready weapons of defence, except the sword of the Spirit. They commenced their missionary labors among the Indians about the year 1770, and devoted themselves to this benevolent enterprise for the period of a half century or more. During the Revolutionary war with Great Britain, they were subjected at times to untold hardships and immi- nent dangers in their association with the various Indian tribes, who were, in many instances, hostile INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 33 to each other, being in alliance either with the English or with the Americans. The missionaries were generally received by the Indians as divine messengers sent to them by the Great Spirit; and, in consequence of their familiarity with the Indians, they soon acquired their language and a controlling influence over most of them, and especially their chiefs. It was for this reason that Gen. Washington often employed one or other of the missionaries to assist him in securing treaties and friendly relations with the Indians in behalf of the American Govern- ment. There were other Moravians engaged with Zeis- berger and Heckewelder in promoting the cause of Christian missions among the Western Indians. They all acted in concert, and thus succeeded in dotting the wilderness here and there with mission- ary stations ; and in gathering about them, if not in converting, a considerable number of their dusky disciples, whom they partially fed and clothed, and who, for inducements of this kind, if for no other reasons, became attached to the missionaries, and were ready to follow them through good or evil report. The town of Bethlehem, Penn., was founded by a colony of Moravians as early as 1741, and was regarded as the headquarters of Indian missions. 34 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. Zinzendorf, in his visit to America, approved the selection of this locality, and called the land which was purchased "the Nazareth Tract." A mission- house, schoolhouse, and workshop were the first buildings which this Moravian colony erected. No purer, better, or holier Christian men and women ever graced the face of the earth than those early colonists. Even the neighboring graveyard where they now sleep — quaint, moss-grown, and singular as its prostrate marble tablets may appear — has an air of sanctity thrown about it which still recalls the Christian purity and simplicity of other days. Not only during the Revolutionary war, but for years afterwards, the missionaries were subjected to indignities and many perplexing embarrassments. Zeisberger and Heckewelder had established several promising missions at different points on the rivers and lakes of the Western wilderness. Among the earlier missions was that established on Huron River, Michigan. Here they had gathered into the fold some fifty or more converted Indians, but were so persecuted by the unconverted war-chiefs in the vicinity, that they, in the spring of 1786, were compelled with their converts to abandon the sta- tion. Tliey procured two small vessels at Detroit, and, taking their converts on board, prayerfully com- INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 35 mitted themselves to the tender mercies of Lake Erie, with a view to pitch their tents somewhere on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, in the Western Reserve; but, before they reached the river, they were overtaken by a terrific storm, which compelled them to return to an island near Sandusky for shelter. Here they remained until the storm had abated, when one of their vessels was withdrawn by the owner. This was to them an unexpected occur- rence, and placed them in a dilemma. What next to do they hardly knew ; but where there is a will there is a way. They then placed about half the party on board the remaining vessel, including the women, children, and luggage. The vessel was so crowded as to render the condition of passengers almost unendur- able. The remainder of the party were left in the woodlands on shore in a nearly destitute condi- tion, and with but a small supply of provisions. They resolved, however, to follow their brethren, wives, and children. In order to effect this, some traversed the lake-shore on foot, while others con- structed rude canoes and proceeded by water. It so happened that the entire company arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on the same day. They then, after uniting in a brief religious ser- vice, proceeded together in charge of their apostolic 36 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. leaders, Zeisberger and He eke welder, up the river as far as Tinker's Creek, where the French had estab- lished a trading-post, which they had recently aban- doned. Here the missionary pilgrims pitched their tents, and named the place Pilgrim's Rest. They probably arrived in June. Here they cleared more land, ploughed, sowed, and expected to reap. They also built for themselves cabins, and a chapel in which they held public worship. At their first meeting in the chapel they celebrated the Lord's Supper. In the fall Heckewelder left the com- munity, and returned to Bethlehem. A Moravian brother by the name of Edwards supplied the vacancy caused by his absence. In the course of the ensuing winter it was dis- covered by Edwards and Zeisberger that the Indians of the vicinity had become hostile, and that their chief had threatened to exterminate every individual belonging to the mission. This alarming threat in- duced the spiritual leaders of the mission to remove as soon as practicable with their converts to Black River, about twenty miles west from the Cuyahoga. This occurred early in the spring of the next year after they had located at Pilgrim's Rest, where they had ploughed and sowed, expecting to reap, but did not reap ; and where they had sought rest, but found none. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 37 They had remained at Black River but three days when the Indian chief, who was the potentate of that region, ordered them to depart without delay. Feeling that they had not where to lay their heads, these Christian pilgrims of the forest took their departure, and returned to their former location on Huron River. Here they found that a change had come over their dreams of security. This induced them to continue their wanderings into the friendly dominions of Canada, where they were received with kindness and with true Christian sympathy. If we may judge from the efforts which have from time to time been made to civilize and Christianize the aborigines of our great Western wilderness, it would seem that all such efforts have hitherto failed to produce favorable results of a permanent charac- ter. The truth is, the Indian was born of the forest and for the forest. He therefore loves his native freedom with an instinctive love, which admits of no artificial restraint. He cannot comprehend the subtleties of a Christian theology. He believes in the protection and guidance of the Great Spirit, whose infinite power he sees displayed in the works of Nature, and whom he worships at the altars of Nature. He regards the Great Spirit as his divine Father, who will safely conduct him, when he dies, into the happy hunting-grounds, which lie far 38 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. away beyond the golden boundaries of the setting sun. " His soul proud science never taught to stray Far as the solar walk or milky way ; Yet simple nature to his hope has given, Behind the cloud-topped hill, an humbler heaven. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES, 39 CHAPTER VI. Surveyors arrive at Conneaut, July 4, 1796. — Celebrate - THE Day. — Stow's Castle. — Indian Council. — Reply of Gen. Moses Cleaveland. — Pipe of Peace. — Mutual Gifts. —The Surveys allowed. — First Wheat sown in the Re- serve. The wilds of the Western Reserve, and in fact the entire Western frontier, had been penetrated at different points by French and English traders, and other bold adventurers, a good number of years previous to the arrival of the surveyors. They were a class of men not only fond of adventure, but men stimulated by a love of lucre, and therefore sought to monopolize the Indian traffic. In doing this, they unconsciously prepared the way for the ingress of a Christian civilization. The State of Connecticut granted, in 1792, the " fire-lands " to her Revolutionary sufferers, and sold, in 1795, the remainder of her reserve lands, some three millions of acres, to a company of lier own citizens, known as the Connecticut Land Company, for one million and two hundred thousand dollars. This company consisted of thirty-six of her most 40 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. wealthy and reliable citizens. The avails arising from the sale were placed in the State treasury, and made a permanent school-fund, the interest of which is annually appropriated to the support of her public schools, and is said to be sufficient to sustain them without aid from taxation. This disposition of the lands has resulted in educational benefits which can- not be over-estimated. The Connecticut Land Company, soon after their purchase, sent to the Western Reserve an organized party of surveyors, with a view to allot the lands and place them in the market. The party consisted of Moses Cleaveland, general agent of the Land Company; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor; Seth Pease, astronomer and surveyor ; Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, John M. Holley, and Richard M. Stoddard, assistant surveyors ; Joshua Stow, com- missary ; Theodore Shepard, physician ; and Joseph Tinker, principal boatman. The surveyors were accompanied by thirty-seven employes, and several other persons who came as immigrants with a view to settlement. There were but two married men who brought their wives with them, and these were the only women belonging to the party. The entire company consisted of fifty persons. They brought with them thirteen horses and several head of cattle, and came up the lake from Buffalo in open boats, INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 41 and landed on the sand-beach, east side of Conneaut Creek, in what is now Ashtabuhi County, July 4, 1796, and named the spot Port Independence. They all arrived in excellent health, moored their boats, thanked God for his paternal care, and then resolved to celebrate the day. As it happened, the day was remarkably pleasant, and the air bracing. They proceeded at once to extemporize the necessary preparations for the celebration, and appointed Gen. Moses Cleaveland president of the day. A rustic table was soon constructed, and made to groan with the luxuries of the season, consisting of bread, pork and beans, with a sufficiency of the "ardent" to prevent injury from indiscreet potations of cold water. They partook of the feast with a keen relish ; and, when they had relieved the table of its burden, they announced the toasts and called for speeches in due order. The standing toasts were arranged as follows : 1st, The President of the United States; 2d, The State of New Connecticut ; 3d, The Connecticut Land Company ; 4th, May Port Independence, and the fifty sons and daughters who have entered it this day, be successful and prosperous ! 5th, May these sons and daughters multiply in sixteen years sixteen times fifty ! 6th, May every person have his bowsprit trimmed, and ready to enter every port that opens ! 42 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. The punch-bowl consisted of a large bucket filled to the brim with " grog," as they called it, adapted to the taste, and strong enough to excite not only a due degree of hilarity, but to inspire the speeches with a felicitous style of eloquence. Of course the speeches in response to the standing toasts were loudly applauded, and honored at the close with a discharge of thirteen volleys of musketry. The punchbowl, as may well be supposed, was re- plenished several times during the exercises, which were continued till after sunset, when the party re- tired for the night to their boats in good order and in good " spirits," feeling that they had had " glory enough for one day." This was unquestionably the first Fourth of July celebration which took place within the limits of the Western Reserve. The next day after the celebration, the party united in cutting timber, and in erecting a huge elephantine log structure for their own temporary accommodation, and named it Stow's Castle, in honor of Joshua Stow, who was their commissary. It was built of unhewn logs, and covered with a thatched roof composed of brush, wild grass, and sod. Its style of architecture was entirely unique, and its uncouth appearance such as to provoke the laughter of the builders and the ridicule of the Indians. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 43 In the course of a few days after the completion of the castle, "Moses," as Gen. Cleaveland was familiarly called, because he had, like Moses of old, led his followers into the wilderness, divided his company of surveyors into small parties, and sent them to different parts of the Reserve to commence their official labors. This movement excited the suspicions of the Indians, who at once manifested a disposition to interfere, and prevent the execution of the work. But, instead of taking hostile steps in the first instance, the principal chief, Piqua, de- spatched a message to the intruders on his domains, and desired to know by what authority they had taken possession, and requested them to meet him in council, with a view to effect an amicable under- standing of the matter. The party at once agreed that a formal council should be held the next day after the receipt of the message, and appointed the hour and place. The chief and his attendants, bedecked with paint and plumes, appeared at the hour appointed, and, seating themselves in a circle beneath the shadow of the castle, invited Moses to take a seat in the centre. The council then commenced proceedings by first smoking gravely the pipe of peace. This ceremony was then followed by a speech from Cato, the son of the old chief Piqua, who had instructed 44 PIONEERS OF TEE WESTERN RESERVE. his son as to what he should say. Cato prefaced his speech by saying that he thanked the Great Spirit for giving the council a pleasant day, and for bring- ing the white men into the country of the Indians ; and then desired to know what was the object of the visit, and what the white men intended to do with the Indians, urging that the Great Spirit had given them the wilderness for their permanent home, and supplied its rivers with fish and its forests with game for their support. He then concluded his speech with the expression of a desire that peace and friendship might be maintained between the Indians and their white visitors. Gen. Cleaveland, who was in fact, as well as in name, the Moses that had led the white adventurers into the wilderness, then arose, and replied to the young orator, stating that the white men were the friends and brothers of the Indians, and that the In- dians need have no fears of being disturbed in the enjoyment of their just rights, and that both white men and Indians should live together in peace and in the bonds of friendship, and should endeavor to promote the true interests and welfare of both races. This kind and conciliatory reply so pleased the Indians, that they with one accord presented Moses with the " pipe of peace," and with silver trinkets, and other gifts of considerable value, all of which INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 45 he accepted in the most gracious manner. He then returned all the gifts, accompanied with a keg of whiskey and some glass beads for the squaws to the Indians, who were not only surprised, but highly delighted, with such an act of noble generosity. The Indians then consented that the surveys might proceed, and declared that they would not interfere to prevent the progress of the work. The object of the survey was to lay out the entire Reserve into townships of five miles square, and the townships into one-hundred-acre lots, preparatory to placing the lands in market. In the fall of 1796 the surveying-party cleared off six acres of land on the east side of Conneaut Creek, and sowed it with wheat. This was the first crop of wheat ever sown and reaped by white men in the Western Reserve, — a country which has ever since been prolific in its production of " wheat," to say nothing of its other productions. 46 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, CHAPTER VII. Gen. Cleaveland, with a Detachment of Subvetors, leaves CoNNEAUT. — Discovers a River. — Names it "Chagrin." — Arrives at the Mouth of the Cuyahoga River, July 22. — Selects the Spot for a City. — His Staff names it Cleave- LAND. — First Settlers. — Pease's Hotel. — First Live-Stock. —Indian Sports. — The Bear. — Spafford's Map. — Price of Lots. — Lorenzo Carter. — Jaivies Kingsbury's Trip and Ex- periences. — Commerce. — Ls^dian assassinated. — Dog-Feast. — Bicknell's Sad Fate. In less than three weeks after landing at Con- neaut, a division of the surveying-party, with Gen. Cleaveland at its head, embarked in an open boat, and coasted westward along the lake-shore, bound for the Cuyahoga River ; but finding an intervening river not traced on the chart, and supposing it to be the Cuyahoga, they entered it, and after con- siderable delay discovered their mistake. They felt so chagrined about it, that they named the river " Chagrin," — a designation which it still retains. The party now continued their voyage along the coast until they reached the veritable Cuyahoga, which they entered on the 22d of July; and, after advancing a short distance in its channel, attempted INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 47 to land, but, in their efforts to do so, ran their boat into the marshy growth of wild vegetation which skirted the easterly bank of the river, and stranded her. Here Moses, like his ancient namesake, found himself cradled in the bulrushes. This occurred near the foot of Union Lane, which was at that time the termination of an Indian trail. This second Moses, however, was no infant, but was, in fact, equal to any emergency. The i3arty soon succeeded in effecting a safe landing. They then ascended the precipitous bluff which overlooked the valley of the river, and were astonished to find a broad and beautiful plain of woodland stretching far away to the east, west, and south of them, and lying at an elevation of some eighty feet above the dark-blue waters of Lake Erie. The entire party became enamoured of the scene. Moses, with the eye of a prophet, foresaw that a great commercial city was here destined to spring into existence at no distant day, and accordingly directed a survey to be made into town lots of so much of the land as was included within the angle formed by the lake and easterly side of the river, and as far south-easterly as seemed requisite for the location of the predicted city. When the survey was completed, he felt the importance of selecting a suitable name for the new city, but was perplexed in coming to a satisfactory decision, and requested 48 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. his associates to favor him with their suggestions. They at once baptized the infant city, and gave it the name of Cleaveland in honor of their superior in authority. Moses was taken by surprise, blushed, and gracefully acknowledged the compliment. Tlie letter " a " in the first syllable of his name was sub- sequently dropped out by a resident editor of the town, because he could not include it in the head- line of his newspaper for want of sufficient space. The public adopted the editor's orthography, which has ever since been retained. Gen. Moses Cleaveland was no ordinary man. He was a native of Canterbury, Conn., and graduated at Yale College in 1777. He afterwards studied law, and practised his profession with success in his native town, and in the course of a few years acquired an enviable reputation; was elected a member of the State Legislature, and subsequently advanced to the position of brigadier-general of the militia, which at that day was regarded as a dis- tinguished honor. He was a gentleman of polished manners and unquestioned integrity, and enjoyed the entire confidence of the public. In personal appearance he was of medium height, compact and swarthy in complexion, — so swarthy that the Indians were inclined to regard him as one of their race. He was cool, deliberate, and always self-possessed, as INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 49 well as brave and courageous amid threatening dan gers, and especially popular with his associates. He was a man of few words and of profound thought. He foresaw, in the future, what time has verified. The city of Cleveland may well refer with pride to her inheritance of his name. The surveyors, very soon after landing at Cleve- land, erected within its original limits a log store- house and several log cabins for their own accommo- dation and that of a few immigrants, who had followed them with the design of settling, or finding employment, in the region of the Cuyahoga. One of these cabins was called Pease's Hotel, and was doubtless occupied as a boarding-house. The most of the cabins were located between Union Lane and the river, a little north of the present viaduct or elevated bridge, where existed at that time a large open spring of excellent water. John P. Stiles and wife took charge of Pease's Hotel at Cleveland, while Elijah Gunn and wife remained at Conneaut in charge of Stow's Castle during a part of the first winter. The wives of these men were the only women who came into the country with the survey- ing-party in 1796. The entire live-stock which the company brought with them consisted of thirteen horses, two yoke of oxen, and three or four milch cows, for their own 50 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, use. That division of the party who attempted to remain at Conneaut during the first winter suffered intensely for the want of a sufficient supply of pro- visions ; and many of them must have perished from hunger, except for the kindness of the Indians, For this reason most of them abandoned Conneaut early in December. At that time the natives who occupied the lands of the Reserve had become quite numer- ous, especially in the vicinity of both Conneaut and Cleveland. They took great delight in observing their own ancient customs and recreations. It had become a common practice with many of them, after completing their autumnal hunt, to encamp for the winter on the westerly bluff at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River in considerable num- bers. They seemed to have selected this locality with a view to trade with the white men, whom they called " Sagamosh," and at the same time to while away the winter as they best could by indulging in a variety of rude sports. Seneca was one of their distinguished chiefs, who, with his tribe, preferred to encamp on the easterly side of the river. He was not only a true friend of the white man, but a noble specimen of true manhood. For the most part both the red and white races preserved amicable relations, and were much benefited by a reciprocal interchange of commodities. Cleveland, at tliis time, was re- garded simply as a trading-post. INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 51 While some of the surveyors were encamped at Cleveland, they became straitened for meat. Seeing a bear swimming across the river from the west to the east side, they turned out, and surrounded him at the landing ; but the bear reversed his direction amid shots and shouts, and escaped. The party, however, on their return, captured a huge rattle- snake. This they cooked, and ate with a keen relish, and thought it a rare delicacy. The first map which was made of Cleveland, after completing the survey, bears date Oct. 1, 1796. It was constructed of several sheets of fools- cap paper pasted together so as to afford the exten- sion of surface required, and is known as Spafford's Map. Subsequently other maps were made, one of which is designated as Pease's Map. There is but little difference between the two, while both are regarded as authoritative. On Spafford's Map, Supe- rior Street was designated as Broad Street, and Miami Street as Deer Street. The latter was so named from the circumstance, that, while the survey of it was progressing, a deer approached, and gazed at the surveyors for some minutes with a seeming desire to ascertain what this kind of a strange pro- ceeding meant, and then bounded away into the depths of the forest. Seneca Street has the honor of deriving its name from the good old Indian chief 52 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. Seneca, who befriended the surveyors and early pioneers. Soon after the completion of the surveys, applica- tions began to be made for the purchase of lots. The prices were fixed by a committee both of city lots and adjoining ten-acre lots. The price of a city lot was fifty dollars, and that of a ten-acre lot thirty dollars. Outside of these came twenty-acre lots at forty dollars, and then hundred-acre lots at one hun- dred dollars. It was required of purchasers to pay twenty per cent of the purchase-money in hand, and the balance in three annual instalments with annual interest. The purchasers were also required to settle on their respective lots within the ensuing year, 1797. But few lots, however, were sold on these terms during 1796. In the course of the next two years a goodly number of immigrants arrived, who purchased lots and built cabins at various points in the city and in its vicinity. The prevalence ot fever and ague at Cleveland induced several families to settle on the ridge, or elevated lands bordering on what is now known as the Woodland Hills Avenue. Among those who selected the ridge as a place of residence were James Kingsbury, Rodolphus Edwards, and James Hamil- ton, while others settled at points more directly east and south from Cleveland. Among those who located INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 63 at Cleveland at this early period was Lorenzo Carter. He was an eccentric character, an expert hunter, and soon acquired almost an unbounded influence and control over the Indians, who came to regard his word as law, and who well knew if they dis- obeyed him that his rifle was sure to enforce obedi- ence. He built his cabin on the declivity of the hill, a little distance north of the viaduct, and near the line of Union Lane. It was a stanch log structure, and built with a view to security against attacks which might be made by the Indians. Mrs. James Kingsbury was the mother of the first white child born on the Western Reserve. The child was born at Conneaut in December, 1796, where the family were domiciled for the winter in a rickety log cabin which the surveyors had aban- doned early in the fall of that year. Mr. Kingsbury returned to his native State of New Hampshire on important business, and was so long delayed by sick- ness while there that he did not on his return trip reach Conneaut until Christmas Eve, when he found his wife, who had recently given birth to a child, apparently in a dying condition from exhaustion and want of proper food. The child had died, and the mother had been compelled to bury it. This she did as best she could with such aid as her other young cliildren could give her, and then betook herself 54 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, to her comfortless bed witli the expectation that she, too, must soon die. On the very first night after burying her child, while in this helpless and despair- ing condition, she heard a footstep, and then a rap at her cabin-door. She was startled, but unable to rise or answer. She then heard a voice, which she recognized as that of her husband. The moment he opened the door, she sprang, wild with delight, from her bed to meet him, and then fell to the floor from exhaustion. This sudden revelation of her pitiful and destitute condition nearly unmanned her heroic husband. He saw the necessity of effort to restore his wife, and made every effort in his power. He acted the part of a nurse with success. He baked bread, shot wild game, and prepared for her a nour- ishing diet. She soon so far recovered as to be able to care for herself and her household. His bread- stuffs had now become exhausted. He managed to procure a bushel of wheat, and drew it to mill on a hand-sled, nearly thirty miles, to Erie, Penn., and returned on the third day with the flour to Conneaut. In the 'spring of 1797 Mr. Kingsbury, with his family, removed from Conneaut to Cleveland, where he planted and raised a field of corn the same year on a patch of land which the Indians had cleared, and which embraced within its limits the ground on which the City Hall and Catholic cathedral now INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 55 stand. In the fall, after harvesting his com, he retired to the ridge, where he purchased a farm, and continued to reside during the remainder of his life. Cleveland commenced her career in 1796, with a population of but four persons. In 1797 her population increased to fifteen, and in the course of the next three years was reduced to seven persons. The unhealthfulness of the locality had induced a removal to more elevated lands in the vicinity. But few, except the family of Lorenzo Carter, remained. Year after year now elapsed with but slight acces- sions to the population of Cleveland. Numbers of her most enterprising citizens removed to Newburgh, where existed an excellent water-power, and where the atmosphere, as they believed, was more salubri- ous. These advantages induced them to think that Newburgh, instead of Cleveland, was destined to become the great metropolis of the Reserve. The only highways which existed in the country at this time were narrow paths, designated by blazed trees, and a few old Indian trails. The trails were well-beaten paths, which had existed from time immemorial, leading from one distant point of the country to another. One led from Buffalo, along the lake-shore, to Detroit. Another from the Ohio River, by way of the " portage "as it was called, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. They concen- 56 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. trated at Cleveland, where the river was crossed by a ferry established by the Indians. In this way the principal trading-posts erected by the French and English were made accessible, and furnished the early pioneers with the facilities of securing an important commercial intercourse with those distant points of trade. The goods and provisions needed were transported on pack-horses. While Cleveland was the central point on the lake-shore, Newburgh took the lead in respect to population. Hence Cleveland acquired the reputation of being a " small village six miles from Newburgh." David Bryant's distillery, under the hill, was the centre of attraction in the youthful days of Cleve- land. It was here that the largest sociables were held on holidays, Sundays, and nearly every other day in the week. It was for a long time the only fashionable resort on Sunday; and, though the gospel was sometimes preached on that day in the school- room of the town, yet the distillery maintained its ascendency, and, " with a long pull and a strong pull, drew many souls the other way." It was here that both white men and Indians delighted to assemble, and vie with each other in partaking of " fire-water," as the Indians very prop- erly designated the product of the distillery. Here they played at cards, and also amused themselves INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 57 witli foot-racing, shooting at coppers with bows and arrows, and paid their bets in the current coin of " fire-water." On one of these occasions, the Indian Big Son charged Menompsy, the medicine-man, with having killed his squaw by administering witchcraft medi- cine, and threatened to kill him. Menompsy replied, " Me no 'fraid." It was the confident belief among the Indians that the medicine-man, who was regarded by them as a conjurer, priest, and prophet, could not be killed by human instrumentalities. When night came Big Son watched his opportunity, and, over- taking Menompsy on Union Lane, gave him a friendly salutation by offering to shake hands with him, and at the same moment drew his knife, and stabbed him to the heart. In an instant, bleeding profusely, Menompsy fell to the ground, uttering a fearful war-whoop. The cry was heard by his friends, the Chippewas and Ottawas, who were encamped on the west side of the river. They rallied, and came to the rescue, seized the dead body of Menompsy, and bore it to camp ; and then returned to take vengeance on the Senecas, who were the friends of Big Son, and who occupied a camp on tlie east side of the river. The Senecas, being comparatively few in number, became greatly alarmed for their safety. At this crisis Major 58 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. Carter, who was regarded as the law of the land, intervened, and succeeded in negotiating a compro- mise of the affray by a promise that the Senecas should forthwith give the Chippewas and Ottawas a gallon of whiskey. But it so happened that the whiskey could not be procured until it could be manufactured. Bryant put his distillery into oper- ation at once. In the mean time the expectant Chippewas and Ottawas, being disappointed, made night hideous with their unearthly war-whoops, and threats to exterminate the Senecas. This induced Major Carter to attempt a second negotiation, which he accomplished by promising two gallons of whis- key, instead of one, to be delivered the next morn- ing. This restored quiet for the night. The next day the friends of Menompsy buried his remains in a sitting posture near the foot of Detroit Street, and crowned his funeral obsequies with a " glorious drunk." Both feasts and fights characterize the history of Bryant's distillery, and were of frequent occurrence. Not long after the assassination of Menompsy, the Indians proceeded to get up a votive demonstration, known as a " white-dog feast." It was the color of the dog which gave the feast, not only distinction, but imparted to it a sacred or religious character. Among the few white men who were invited was INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 59 Oilman Bryant, a son of the distiller. He states that the dog was killed in the presence of the guests, the hair singed off, the flesh chopped in pieces, placed in a kettle, boiled, flavored, and dished up in the form of a soup, and that he was presented with one of the fore-paws with the hair still remaining between the toes. He received the " choice bit," but declined to eat. But, before partaking of the feast, the master of ceremonies placed on an elevated table a wooden bowl of the soup, hot and smoking, as an offering to the god Manitou, and at the same time muttered a prayer, asking the god to keep them safe, and give them good corn and plenty of it at harvest. The feast was then partaken by all the dusky guests with a consuming relish which left no fragments to tell the unhappy fate of the white dog. Yet every dog has his day, it is said ; nor does it follow that this great truth is impeached, whether the dog's life terminates in a soup or in a sausage. A small detachment of surveyors, not long prior to the dog feast, were engaged in their work in the southern part of the Reserve when an assistant, by the name of Minor Bicknell, was taken dangerously sick in the midst of the forest far away from medical aid or human habitation. The two surveyors, Amzi Atwater and Warham Shepard, who were with him, contrived to provide for his relief by connecting a 60 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. pair of horses to long poles, one horse in front and the other in rear, and attaching a swing-bed to the poles by ropes twisted of bark, on which they trans- ported the patient sixty miles through the wilder- ness, at the rate of ten or twelve miles a day, until they reached the Cuyahoga River at the mouth of Tinker's Creek, where they expected to find a physi- cian ; but, within two hours after their arrival, the wretched sufferer expired. They buried him on the bank of the river, and returned with saddened hearts to their labors. This was one of the many sorrows of the " sojourners in the wilderness." INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 61 CHAPTER VIII. ADDiTioNAii Settlers at Cleveland. — First Dry-Goods Store. — First White Child born. — First Funeral. — First Wed- ding.— First Grist-Mill. — First Missionary. — First Dis- tillery. — First Public Ball. — Hair Blankets. — First School. — Modern School-System. In 1797 Edward Paine opened the first dry-goods store in Cleveland. Nathan Chapman arrived the same year, and brought with him two yoke of oxen and four milch cows. Mrs. Job Stiles was the mother of the first white child born in Cleveland, and was probably the only white woman resident in the town at that time, if we may judge from the fact that a squaw was emploj^ed to officiate on the occa- sion as a midwife. The first death of a citizen which occurred was that of David Eldridge. He was buried on the corner of Ontario and Prospect Streets. The funeral of Eldridge was soon followed by a wedding, the greatest sensation of the year 1797. This wedding occurred on the Fourth of July at the log cabin of Lorenzo Carter. It was the first marriage in town of a white man to a white woman. 62 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. The young lady was the hired girl living in Carter's family, but none the less respected for being a hired girl. The gentleman was a Mr. Clement, from Canada. Rev. Seth Hart, connected with the busi- ness of the Land Company, performed the marriage ceremony. The bride was not attired in silks, satins, and diamonds, after the style of modern times, nor did the bridegroom wear white kid gloves, swallow- tailed coat, and French boots; yet they both con- formed to their means, and, like sensible people, dressed in their best Sunday clothes, — the bride in domestic colored cotton, and the bridegroom in homespun sheep's gray. Though not rich in this world's goods, they felt that they were rich in what is still better. They had hands willing to work, and " hearts that beat as one." These they gave. No other gifts were expected, nor were any cards issued. They simply stood up and "took the pledge," and received God's blessing from clerical lips. Whether it was the custom then for the officiating clergyman to take the lead in saluting the bride with a " holy kiss," or whether the happy pair were left to interchange for themselves matrimonial " smacks " at their earliest convenience, does not appear in the history of the times. . The interests of Cleveland at this early day were INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. 63 more or less identified with the interests of New- burgh, especially in regard to mill privileges. The citizens of the two villages were in sympathy with each other, and did what they could to promote their common welfare. They alike felt an urgent want of a grist-mill, where they could have their breadstuffs ground. This want was soon supplied by the enterm-ise of W. W. Williams, who, in 9 November, 17/9, erected at Newburgh a flouring- mill, the first that was put in operation in this region of the country. The creek on which the mill was built has a waterfall of forty or fifty feet. The millstones were excavated from the rock-ledge that skirts the stream, and, in consequence of being too soft, furnished the surrounding population with a sufficiency of " grit " to meet any emergency. The water was conducted into the mill through the trunk of a hollow tree, and fell upon an undershot wheel, whose revolutions generated the requisite propelling power. Yet the mill, like the mill of the gods, ground but slowly; while customers patiently waited their turns, some- times for days, when they received their flour un- bolted, and returned home to " bolt it " in the natural way. In connection with this method of securing a supply of daily bread, the citizens both at Cleveland 64 PIONEERS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. and at Newburgh felt the moral need of obtaining a supply of the "bread of life" in a spiritual sense, especially those who professed Christianity; and, consequently, in answer to their earnest prayers. Heaven sent them a missionary from Connecticut, Rev. Joseph Badger, who was a true philanthropist and a good man. He travelled about among the settlers, and preached in private houses. He was generally received with kindness, and treated with respect. He was probably the first clergyman who came to the Reserve with a view to preach the gospel. He was soon followed by other missionaries, who occupied stations at different points. Their main object was to establish churches and schools. These civilizing institutions are the first thing which a Puritan desires to have, next to his bread and butter. In this regard, if in no other, our Puritan fathers clearly foresaw the " one thing needful " in laying the foundations of a free republic and of a true manhood. It was as early as 1788 that Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory north-west of the Ohio River, extended his jurisdiction over the Western Reserve by including it within what was then known as Washington County. He afterward, July 10, 1800, erected the Reserve into a single county by itself ; gave it the name of Trumbull in honor of a INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES. G5 Connecticut governor by that name ; organized it by appointing the proper officers, and fixed the county seat at Warren. Prior to this, the Western Reserve was practically a heathen land, where might gave right, and every man was a law unto himself. This is sufficiently illustrated in the fact that there existed but very little regard for law or reli- gion among the rank and file of adventurers who first settled at Cleveland and in its vicinity. It was this class of men, who, though individually possess- ing but little influence, gave tone for a time to public sentiment and public morals. The sabbath was generally recognized by them as a day set apart for social intercourse, or sports of various kinds. It was not until the year 1800 that public religious exercises were introduced. The Rev. Joseph Badger, the missionary, preached the first sermon in Cleveland. It was Gilman Bryant, sen., Avho established the first distillery. Thus it would seem that good and evil are providentially associated in new as well