1818
SAXTON
last few nights of their journey. Any one who has ever heard the howling of wolves would wish to be between four walls when they began their music, especially if it sounded close at hand.
The family diet that winter and the following spring became very monotonous, and Mr. Saxton must have grown quite desperate in ringing the changes up on squirrel, rabbit, wild duck and turkey, with occasional chances to cook venison. For the last of the provisions brought from Vermont gave out, and until crops were raised, the family had to depend chiefly upon wild game. All this hardship was a new experience for Mr. Saxton. He had been accustomed to comforts and to a public life and the loneliness of the wilderness and the daily sight of his family's deprivation was a constant regret and worry.
He took the contract for opening of Kinsman Road from Rice Ave. to Perry Street, now E. 33rd, which compelled the chopping down of many forest trees, clearing them out of the way, and other laborious work, at 75 cents a day.
There were no schools near enough for his children to attend, and with two neighbors he built a log school-house and sent for a teacher who boarded with the three families.
Although from Bristol, Vt., Mr. Saxton was born in Whitehall, N. Y. His parents were Ebenezer and Hannah Loomis Saxton of Sheffield, Mass.
In the War of 1812 he raised an independent company of militia, of which he was the captain. He served in the Battle of Plattsburgh.
He was married twice, first to Sally Fuller, and after her death, secondly, in 1808, to Polly Stewart.
Jehiel Saxton died in 1858, aged 75 years.
Mrs. Saxton was the daughter of Sargeant Samuel Stewart, a hero of the Revolutionary War, born in Londonderry, N. H., and his wife, Elisabeth Abbott of Salisbury, Conn. Their daughter, Polly Stewart Saxton, was the first white child born in Bristol, Vt.
She inherited from her father great force of character and it was because of her hopefulness and helpfulness that her husband was enabled to pass through those trying years of pioneer life. An interesting incident of her early life in Newburgh has been handed down to her descendants.
Two neighbors and herself were spending an afternoon together. Each of them had a very young child in her arms. Suddenly they heard the squealing of the only pig in the neighborhood. They guessed at once what was happening to that pig, and rushed out, still holding their babes, in time to see a big bear making off with it. That domestic animal meant to the woman more than future pork, ham, and bacon. It stood also for fried cakes, doughnuts, and innumerable pies. Any housewife ever entirely out of shortening when trying to fry or bake will realize the desperate situation.
All three women chased that bear right into the heart of the woods over stumps, through underbrush, screaming as they ran. Bruno became rattled at the noise and pursuit and dropping the pig trotted on to more quiet and safety.
To the women of today the courage of those Cleveland and Newburgh
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1818
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pioneer wives and mothers is almost incredible. Imagine, if you can, three club-women living, say on Prospect Street, East 82nd, or Cornell Road, clutching their babes with one arm, brandishing a stick with the other, while running pell-mell in pursuit of a wild beast.
There were 12 children born to the Saxton family. Their mother closed the eyes of three in death in 1831, one in 1837, another in 1844, and yet another in 1857, half of her household preceding her to the grave. She died 1873.
Children of Jehiel and Polly Stewart Saxton:
Sally Saxton, b. 1809; died 1831; m. ------------Johnson.
Hannah Saxton, b. 1810; died 1885; m. Stark Edwards.
Jehiel Saxton, Jr., b. 1812; died 1895; m. Emeline A. Morse.
Harriet Saxton, b. 1814; died 1831.
Anson Saxton, b. 1817; died 1833.
Betsey Saxton, b. 1819; d. 1837.
The above were born in Bristol, Vt.
Phebe Saxton, b. 1821; d. 1844.
Elmira Saxton, b. 1823; d. 1900..
Dewitt Saxton, b.1825; d.1853; m. Christiana Corlett.
Cynthia Saxton, b. 1827; m. Luke Darroll
Mary Saxton, b. 1828; died on East Prospect St. 1912.
1818
STOCKWELL
William Stockwell was in Cleveland as early as 1818, for in July of that year he was married to Lydia Hall by Horace Perry. His bride was a widow with a little nine-year-old daughter, Sarah or "Sally" Hall.
Much research has failed to secure the antecedents of either husband or wife, or where they came from to Cleveland. Mr. StockwelI left no descendants so far as can be learned, and those of Sarah Hall do not know who was her father nor the maiden name of her mother.
Probably Wm. Stockwell came originally from a New England state, as the name is a familiar one in that part of the country, although thus far no genealogy of the family has been compiled. No advertisement of his business appears in the early issues of the Cleveland Herald, and it cannot be ascertained.
The family lived on Superior Street adjoining the residence of Deacon Moses White, and east of it. Madam Severance remembered them well, though but a child at the time, as very nice, refined people.
Mr. Stockwell died in the cholera season of 1834, and was buried in Erie Street Cemetery. Mrs. Lydia Hall Stockwell died three years later in Massillon, Ohio, where she had been living during her widowhood with her daughter who, at the age of 16, in 1825, had married Joseph G.
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1818
BARBER
Hogan. They resided in Massillon some years, but in 1840 returned to Cleveland, bringing with them the remains of Mrs. Stockwell, who was placed beside her husband in Erie street cemetery.
Two years later, Joseph H. Hogan died. His widow survived him over 30 years, passing away at the age of 64 years. The family lived near the corner of St. Clair and Ontario streets.
The Stockwell-Hogan monument stands to the right of the main drive of the cemetery and near its entrance.
The children of Joseph G. and Sarah Hall Hogan::
Romelia Hogan, m. Daniel Folsom He was drowned in Lake Erie in of Wooster, D. S. P. passage from Buffalo to Cleveland.
William H. Hogan, married late in life a Chicago lady. He died in. 1892, and was buried in the family lot.
Maria Hogan, m. William Johnson
Mary Long Hogan, m. John Taylor Strong, brother of C. H. Strong, Sr.
John Hogan
Charles Hogan. Died at Harpers Ferry during the Civil War
Mary L. Hogan, a namesake of Madame Severance, was considered an unusually pretty girl. Her life was spent in Cleveland. At her death in 1904, aged 66 years, she left two daughters, Mrs. William Van Tine of Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Nelly T. Gay of Manchester, Mass.
1818
BARBER
In the fall of 1818, a number of Hebron, Conn., families started for the West and traveled in company all the way to Cleveland. Three of these were the Watkins, Branch, and Barber families.
They made quite a cavalcade, as there were horses, carriages, wagons, ox-teams, ox-carts loaded with furniture, and in the rear of the procession, patient but puzzled cows walked all the way to become pioneers of their kind in Ohio.
It must have been a wonderful experience for the children of the party, those weeks of journeying and camp-life, and doubtless, it furnished topic for reminiscence long after the snows of old age had whitened their locks, and railroad trains were covering the same route and the same distance in 36 hours.
Josiah Barber was the most important member of the party. With his brother-in-law Richard Lord he had purchased a large tract of land on the west side, extending from the river to Pearl street, now West 25th, and, with two or three exceptions, from Franklin Street to the lake. It must be borne in mind that there were no roads then, simply wide paths cut through the dense woods.
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1818
BARBER
Josiah Barber evidently had an eye for the beautiful in nature; perhaps it was his wife who possessed it. At any rate, no more beautiful or convenient spot could have been selected for their first, pioneer home. It was on the edge of the bank overlooking the wide Cuyahoga Valley, with the high, steep banks of Cleveland, Newburgh, and Brooklyn, all clothed in brilliant autumn foliage and hemming it in.
The log-house was built to face this wonderful scenery, and so was the brick residence that superseded it in after years.
The writer as a child often wondered why the home turned its back on Pearl Street, and then little thought. that she would be explaining why over a half century later. It still stands on the east side of the street but a few steps south of Detroit Ave.
Josiah Barber was born in 1771, and therefore was 47 years old when he came west. He brought with him his wife and four children. His oldest one, a daughter, was married, and did not accompany her parents to their pioneer home. His youngest child was about eight years old.
All the Barber family were devoted churchmen and when, in 1820, poor Trinity, only three years old that year, had no home nor rector on the east side of the river, Josiah Barber opened wide his door and for six years church services were held off and on in his home.
He became financially interested in several mercantile and manufacturing enterprises of an early day. One of these was the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Co. As one of the firm of "Lord and Barber" he constantly dealt in real-estate. In 1836, he was mayor of Ohio City-the West Side.
Josiah Barber married 1st, Abigail Gilbert. She died leaving a little daughter, Abigail Gilbert Barber, who married Robert Russell. He died, and eventually with her three young daughters she joined her father in this city. Two of the daughters subsequently became the wives of very prominent Cleveland citizens. These children of Robert and Abigail Russell were:
Sophia Lord Russell, m. Daniel P. Rhodes. C. Hatch.
Livania Russell.
Charlotte Augusta Russell, m. Uriah
Josiah Barber married 2nd, Sophia Lord, daughter of Samuel Philips and Rachel White Lord.
Their children were:
Epiphras Barber, b. 1802; m. Jerusha Tracey Sargeant..
Harriet Barber, b. 1804; m. Horatio N. Ward.
Sophia Lord Barber, b. 1806, died unmarried
Jerusha Barber, b. 1808; died 1823.
Mrs. Sophia Lord Barber, Sr., had a brother and two sisters, who resided in Cleveland at an early day. They were Richard Lord, Hope Lord, wife of Seldin Chapman, and Abigail Lord Randall.
As the only son of Josiah Barber, Sr., Epaphras Barber was associ-
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1818
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ated in business with his father, and at the former's death in 1842, it all devolved upon him.
His wife was the daughter of Levi and Rosamond Harris Sargeant, Cleveland pioneers. She had inherited many lovely traits of character from her mother, and been raised in a family of high ideals, and unselfish devotion to principle. Consequently, her own children, the third generation of the Barber family, were a credit to their grandparents on both sides of the house. But one of this generation remains, Mrs. Sophia Barber McCrosky. She spends her summers in Cleveland and her winters in California.*
There is no descendant of the family now living anywhere in the vicinity of the pioneer home.
The children of Epaphras and Jerusha Barber:
Richard Lord Barber, b. 1827; died 1884 in Kansas; married 1st, Mary E. Hodgeman of Parma, O.; 2nd, Ella Hale of Collinwood. James McCrosky.
Josiah Barber, 2nd, b. 1825; died 1882; m. Caroline Cook, dau. of Chauncy Cook.
Epaphras Barber, b. 1830; m. Sophia Watkins ; died 1898, in Wauseon, O.
Sophia Lord Barber, b. 1833; m.
Tootie Barber, b. 1843; m. 1st, A. M. McGregor; 2nd, Dr. M. O. Terry of Utica, N. Y.
Mrs. Terry had one son who died in his teens. After the death of Mr. McGregor, she founded the McGregor Home for the Aged, on Lee Road, East Cleveland.
She was a very bright, attractive woman, and was of much use to the world. Her death took place in a southern state in 1912.
1818
McINTOSH
Dr. Donald McIntosh was a very early Cleveland physician, also a tavern-keeper; for like all other professional men of -that day he did not attempt to earn a livelihood for himself and family through his practice alone but combined with it another occupation.
Dr. McIntosh was born in New York and educated in Quebec. He was of Scotch descent and of good family. He was considered a skillful physician, but devoted too much of his time to horses, dogs, racing and, alas! drink.
Nothing can be learned regarding his wife save that her Christian name was Susan, and that she outlived him.
But the doctor's children, two or three sons and a daughter were the schoolmates or playmates of others of their age who recalled them in after years. One of the latter was the late Philander Johnson who was
* Since deceased.
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1818
McINTOSH
born on Water Street and who furnished the writer with partial data concerning the McIntosh family.
The eldest son, Donald McIntosh, Jr., became a sailor on the lakes, a calling he followed many years and finally disappeared from knowledge of all early friends. There was another son, Grovenor or Grosvenor McIntosh, of whom no trace can be found. Both boys were nice-looking and much liked by their associates. So far as can be recalled there was but one daughter in the family, Elizabeth McIntosh.
Dr. McIntosh was profane to a degree and not always careful to abstain from bad language when in the presence of patients. In connection with this an incident is related. Squire Hudson of the Ohio town of that name, was very ill and a call upon Cleveland was made for medical aid. Why Dr. Long was not sent to his relief is a query, as he had a much better reputation and withal was a gentleman. However, Dr. McIntosh was dispatched to the scene. He found Squire Hudson very ill and very despondent. The patient thought he could not recover and refused to take the proffered medicine, which was not surprising when we recall that in those days nauseous drugs in quantity were administered for every ill.
Dr. McIntosh, an irritable, quick-tempered man, turned on the Squire, a pious deacon of the Presbyterian Church, and berated him in his choicest vocabulary. "Die then and go to hell!" was his parting shaft.
But the good deacon, horrified at such language, was aroused to expostulation and rebuke. He probably concluded that there was still work for him in this world when such very ungodly men were yet living in it. He took the medicine, recovered, and for many a year following was a religious power in his community.
Dr. McIntosh kept the Eagle tavern on Water street, corner of St. Clair. In 1820, Pliny Morey, who built a tavern in 1812 on the south-west corner of Superior Street and the Public Square, got into financial difficulties through signing a note for a friend. Leonard Case, the holder of the note, foreclosed, and the tavern was put up at auction, bid in, and later sold to Dr. Donald McIntosh for $4,500. The lot was the easterly half of original lot No. 63, with a frontage of 82.66 feet on Superior Street and a depth to Michigan Street.
In 1830 a new two-story house on Seneca Street south of Superior street is advertised for sale, "now in the occupancy of Dr. McIntosh," which would denote that tavern-keeping had ceased to be one of his occupations.
Dr. McIntosh lost his life early in the year 1834 while horse-racing by moonlight. He was thrown from his horse and his neck broken. The following June his wife Susan McIntosh, as administratrix of his estate, legally notified his creditors to exhibit their accounts within a year, and calls upon his debtors to make payment to Harvey Rice, Esq., who will transact all business connected with settling the estate.
Nothing farther can be traced of the family.
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1818
MERCHANT
Gen. Ahaz Merchant was born in Connecticut in 1794, and came to Cleveland in 1818. He was a civil engineer, and did much work in that line for the state and city. He was a contractor also, and erected many notable buildings in the business section of the city, among them the Angier House, afterward renamed "Kennard House." He tried his hand at farming with success, and the latter part of his life was spent upon a large farm on St. Clair street. He died "land poor," having invested freely in it, especially on the West Side, a locality in which he was much interested.
Gen. Merchant commanded the militia, and was a prominent figure in all military parades. His death occurred in 1862 at the age of 69. The family lived at 39 Euclid Ave. when in the city proper.
Mrs. Merchant was a Miss Catherine Stewart who came from Morristown, N. J., in 1819. Her sister Hannah Stewart married Abram Ruple of East Cleveland. Ahaz Merchant had a brother Ira, and a sister Rebecca who came to East Cleveland a year or two earlier than he. Rebecca was a widow with two children, and married later, John Welsh.
The children of Ahaz and Catherine Merchant:
Aaron Merchant, m. Mary Ann Warner Ammock..
Martha Merchant, m. Charles Cadman.
Harriet Merchant, m. R. M. Taylor
Mary Merchant, m. Madison Miller
Silas Merchant, m. 1st. Julia Riddle; 2nd, Celia Tuttle.
The sons of Ahaz Merchant assisted him in his work, and after his death followed the same lines of business. Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Taylor were host and hostess of the Angier House for many years.
The only representative of the family bearing the name of Merchant is Charles C. Merchant, son of Aaron. Silas Merchant had no children, but adopted a nephew and niece of his first wife. He became involved in his business affairs and removed to New Philadelphia, in this state.
1818
LOGAN
In 1818, upon the southwest corner of the Public Square and Superior Street, a site now occupied by Marshall's drug-store, there stood a small frame-building used as a book-store and a-doctor's office. Between that store and Seneca street, now West 3rd, there was no other building save one near the corner of Seneca that had been constructed for weighing hay. It was a quaint little structure, only 10x20 feet, and one story high. The front of the roof had been built to project a little more than the width of a wagon, and from this hung four stout log-chains which were fastened to the wheels of the vehicle to be weighed, which was then raised from the ground with the help of a long heavy beam used as a lever.
In this crude place was started the first newspaper published in the city of Cleveland, on the same street and but a short walk from the pres-
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1818
HAMLIN
ent great printing establishments of the Cleveland Leader and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, each representing a fortune and housed in many storied and costly buildings of its own. This first newspaper venture was made by Andrew Logan, an ambitious young printer and future editor. He is said to have resembled John A. Logan of the Civil War, who was of medium height, stockily built, and of swarthy complexion, and like the late general, he claimed descent from Logan, the noted Mingo chief.
Andrew Logan brought his type from Beaver, Pa., which may have been his home, for a time at least.- The type was much worn, so much so that some of the letters made almost illegible impressions. But he started his newspaper July 31, 1818, under the pretentious title, "The Cleveland Gazette and Commercial Advertiser." A copy of it is preserved in the Western Reserve Historical Library, and it will be found a very creditable sheet.
The big beam that served as a lever for the weighing apparatus ran nearly through the length of the room, and young Logan must have had to step over or around it many times a day, but as he was also official "weigher" for the town, the obstruction, like his type, was a means of livelihood. The Cleveland Weekly Herald, starting a year later with far better equipment, must have discouraged the young printer from further effort to make ends meet, and within a few months following its first issue, he ceased the publication of his own paper. To his position as weigher was added that of "village inspector," and he remained in or near town several years after the close of his printing establishment. Meanwhile, he had married Phila Sherwin, daughter of Amahaaz and Ruth Day Sherwin, who had come to Cleveland in the fall of 1818, from Middleburg, Vt., in company with her parents.
The indifference of descendants has made it difficult to gain correct information concerning Andrew Logan's subsequent life. But this much has been gleaned, that he removed to Iowa, continued in the printing and publishing business, and for many years was the editor of the Davenport News. Only the names of two children have been secured, Dr. Augustus
Rodney Logan, who died in Mexico, 68 years of age, and Sherwin Logan, who married his cousin Caroline Sherwin. She was the daughter of Ahimaaz Sherwin, Jr., and born in this city where she grew to womanhood..
1818
HAMLIN
The records of the Presbyterian church of Lenox, Mass., for August, 1820, contained an item that had an important bearing upon the struggling little society of the same faith in Cleveland. It was a record of withdrawal of Samuel Isbell Hamlin, twenty-five years of age, who had been absent from his native town for two years, and now transferred by letter to the Presbyterian church of Cleveland.
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1818
NICHOLS
He was one of the small band of Christians headed by Elisha Taylor who, in 1819, started the first Sunday-school of the town, and for half a century kept his shoulder close to the church wheel in readiness to push or lift in times of discouragement or difficulty. From a young, ardent recruit, he became an officer and pillar of what is now called the "Old Stone Church." He was "Deacon" Hamlin for many long years before his death in 1868. He was the son of Ichabod Hamlin of Lenox, Mass., and early learned the carpenter trade. He became a contractor and was financially prosperous.
Six years after he arrived in Cleveland, he married Cynthia Jones, the daughter of Daniel and Lucretia Jones. She was born in Cheshire, Conn., in 1804, and was twenty years of age when married.
Deacon Hamlin and his wife kept open house for the ministers of their faith, and loved to entertain them. Many weekly services were held at their home before the first church edifice was erected. One of their sons became a minister, which doubtless gave the good deacon and his wife unbounded satisfaction.
Samuel and Cynthia Jones Hamlin had ten children, five of whom died young.
Martha Hamlin, m. George Dewey of Bennington, Vt..
Mary Hamlin, m. Henry Putnam of New York City.
Henry Hamlin, m. Louise Stevens of Cleveland.
Rev. Chauncy L. Hamlin, m. Mary Wells
Louisa Hamlin, m. Frank Chamberlain of Cleveland
Mrs. Hamlin survived her husband twenty-one years. She died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Hamlin Dewey, in Bennington, Vt., aged 85 years. The family burial lot is in Erie Street Cemetery.
1818
NICHOLS
Humphrey Nichols of Ware, N. H., arrived in Cleveland in 1818. He had been raised on a farm, and, upon reaching town, at once looked for land suitable for farming purposes. Whether he brought the money with him or later earned the $500 which paid for 100 acres at $5 an acre has not been learned, but it was a good investment even when later he had to pay as much again for it.
The land was bounded by Wade Park Ave., Lamont street, E. 105th, and E. 93rd streets. It was purchased of the Western Reserve college, then situated in Hudson, Ohio. The land had been a gift of an eastern man named Law. A disregard by the college trustees of conditions required, or some flaw in the title reverted the property to Law's heirs,
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1818
WELLMAN
and in 1841 Mr. Nichols had to pay $6 more an acre in order to hold it. The Nichols descendants still retain a few acres of the original 100-acre farm. The city holds possession of a portion lying along Rockefeller Park Boulevard.
Humphrey Nichols married, in 1824, Maria Bunts, b. 1803. Her mother, a widow with two other children, Richard and Levi, had married Charles Broff, a widower also with children.
The children of Humphrey and Maria Nichols:
Jesse Nichols, m. Jane Jones of Ogdensburg, N. Y..
Caroline Nichols, m. Mathew Penticost
Abigail Nichols, m. Lorenzo Janes
Minerva Nichols, died aged 25 years
Edwin Nichols, died aged 50 years.
.Before her marriage, Mrs. Nichols had been a member in good standing of the East End Methodist Church. Mr. Nichols had not as yet professed conversion, and declined to join the church, whereupon Miss Maria Bunts was notified that her choice of a husband was not regarded with favor, and the society put her "upon probation." Many times in the years that followed the Methodist church would gladly have welcomed her into its folds, but she refused all overtures in that direction.
She died in 1864, aged 61 years.
1818
WELLMAN
In the Cleveland Herald, 1820, the following notice is given
"The militia will meet for drill on the square in front of Mowry's tavern, Saturday evening. CAPT. H. WELLMAN."
The map of Superior Street in 1825 shows that Capt. Hiram B. Wellman lived, at that time, on the south side of the street.
In the first decade of the last century, Mrs. Joel Wellman with her four children, two sons and two daughters, made a journey on horseback in mid-winter over the Allegheny Mountains from Canadagua, N. Y., to Dalton, Wayne Co., O. It was taken at that time of the year in order that the family could be settled in their new house and ready to plow and plant when the spring season opened. The children were Hiram B., Marshal D., Eliza, and Flora Wellman.
The sons did not remain long in Dalton, and while yet lads they found their way to Cleveland. It is told that they early displayed wonderful self-reliance and courage, natural characteristics in sons of so brave and energetic a mother. While in Cleveland, they went on some errand
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1818
WELLMAN
to an island near Put-in-Bay. It was late in the fall, and the vessel in which they made the journey landed them on the island with the understanding that the boat would stop on its return trip and bring them back to Cleveland. For some unknown reason, this was not done, and the boys were left alone on a desolate island, with a limited supply of food, winter close at hand, and no means of getting to the mainland.
But they were not dismayed, for with the most primitive of tools they fashioned a boat or raft of sufficient strength to bear their weight not only to the mainland, but all the way back to Cleveland. Marshall D. Wellman returned to Wayne County and resided in Wooster, afterward removing to Massillon, Ohio. He was largely interested in the building of canals, and became wealthy. His beautiful home yet stands in Massillon on the corner of Main and Prospect streets, and is occupied by one of his descendants.
Jack London, the well-known writer of fiction, is the grandson of Marshall D. Wellman.
Capt. Hiram B. Wellman settled in Cleveland. He was the town marshal from 1820 to 1828. He had various interests in the town. One of them was a large red warehouse on the river, where he bought and sold merchandise under the firm name of H. B. Wellman and Co. He was also a director of the Bank of Cleveland. With 0. P. Hoyt, he promoted Ohio City property, now the West Side.
He married Miss Eliza Steward of Wooster, and brought her to the Superior street home. She must have been a very youthful bride, for she died in 1835 at the age of 26, leaving three little daughters. They were tenderly cared for by Martha L. Welton, who eventually became their father's second wife. She died in 1849.
Mr. Wellman married a third time, a Miss Mary H. Concklin of New York City, who gave him three sons, Marshall and Marcus, twins, and William Wellman. The last two reside in Chicago.
The children born in Cleveland:
Flora Wellman, m. Elisha W. Paxton of Wheeling, W. Va.
Mary Wellman, m. John F. Karthaus of Massillon, Ohio.
Eliza Wellman, m. John F. Karthaus, after the death of her sister Mary
Col. Hiram B. Wellman left Cleveland about 1835, and took up his residence in Massillon. He became a prominent citizen of that town, residing in a stately Colonial house on Prospect Street near his brother's home. This house is now in the possession of strangers. He went to New York City in the latter years of his life, and in 1877 made a trip to Fernandina, Florida, with his daughter, Eliza Paxton. They contracted the yellow fever, and both died and were buried there. He was 79 years old at the time of his death. A granddaughter, the child of Mary Wellman Karthaus, yet resides in Massillon.
The Wellman brothers and their children who died in Massillon, all lie near each other in Massillon Cemetery, one of the loveliest burial places in the State of Ohio.
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1818
WOOD
In September, 1818, a small boat from the famous steamer "Walk-in-the-Water" entered the river and landed at the foot of Superior Street, a tall, broad-shouldered, powerfully framed young man, a Vermont lawyer 26 years of age who had come to "spy out the land" and see. if it really was all that it purported to be, "flowing in milk and honey." As he toiled up the steep bank we cannot but conjecture what he expected to find at the summit, and what his state of mind at first sight of the poor, primitive little place, a struggling, straggling hamlet of 200 inhabitants, with a few houses standing here and there near the river bank, and back of them the virgin forest. He, may have realized at the moment that his feet were at last on Ohio soil, but little could he have dreamed that one day he would be Ohio's governor.
Reuben Wood was the eldest son of Nathaniel Wood, Jr., of Middletown, Vt. His grandfather was Rev. Nathaniel Wood, one time chaplain in the War of the American Revolution, and whose three brothers had fought on the patriot side at the Battle of Bennington, Vt. Young Wood's education was unusually thorough, especially in the classics. It is told that all through life he carried about with him a Greek Testament and Caesar's Commentaries, which he read with ease.
He had begun the study of law when, in 1816, he married, and with his youthful bride resided for a ,year with his widowed mother, who had removed, meanwhile, to Woodville, N. Y., near Sackett's Harbor. At the completion of his legal course he came to Ohio, leaving his wife and child to rejoin him later.
His instructors had been a distinguished Canadian judge, and a New York lawyer equally renowned, and he had been admitted to practice in the Vermont courts. But the latter availed him naught in Ohio. He could do no legal business, however trivial, until the Supreme Court of the state, then holding in Ravenna, had passed upon his professional merits.
The bottom of the young man's purse was alarmingly visible, so to hire a team was out of the question. Yet Ravenna was miles away, and between that place were woods, woods with ravenous wolves, catamounts, and possible Indians lurking, not a pleasant walk in anticipation. But it was an autumn month and there were objects in view other than wild beasts or men.
We can imagine how Reuben Wood, whose love of nature was life long and sincere, noted these as he strode along hour after hour. The glorious foliage above, the cushions of moss beneath, the wild beauty of the little lakes and streams yet almost unknown to the white man, the gentle rain of falling nuts, and the innumerable wild fowl gathering for their southern flight. If he encountered any serious obstacles in that long walk to Ravenna and return, they were overcome, and he brought back with him a permit to practice law within the State of Ohio.
But the outlook was anything but auspicious. The small sum of money he had brought with him dwindled in spite of the fees he occasionally earned. Yet, as the winter wore on, he longed for his wife and little Loretta to the extent of taking the chances of sending for them. Therefore, in the spring of 1819, as soon as navigation and the weather would permit, Mrs. Wood and her babe but a few months old started to
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join her husband in Cleveland. Mr. Wood went down the lake as far as Buffalo to meet her, and they took passage in the "Walk-in-the-Water" for the last stages of Mrs. Wood's journey.
A severe storm struck the steamer as it neared Cleveland. It could not enter port, even in pleasant weather, and for two days and three nights its passengers were tossed and tumbled on the waves within sight of the whole population on shore who watched the boat anxiously and unceasingly, but unable to alleviate the situation. At last, the lake subsided enough to allow small boats and lighters to row out to the steamer, and the wretched passengers were released from their tossing prison.
When Mr. and Mrs. Wood were finally landed, they were utterly prostrated. Mrs. Wood declared that she would much rather die than live, and her husband's nerve completely gave out. His fare to Buffalo and return added to his wife's passage had cost $60, and when he stepped ashore he had but 50 cents left in his pocket. In physical weakness and mental depression he resolved at the moment to give up the struggle and return to his old home in Woodville.
But Mrs. Wood's sound sense and womanly fortitude rescued the day. "I was foolish enough to come out here under the circumstances, and I am going to stick it out!" she exclaimed. How they managed to begin housekeeping on 50 cents of ready money, we can only conjecture. They never went into detail regarding it, save that they were very poor at first, very economical, but equally and always happy. Only six years later he became a state senator, then judge of common pleas, chief justice, and, in 1851, governor of the state.
It took 33 years to reach the last goal, but they were years in which he maintained a character above reproach. It is claimed that the breath of suspicion was never lisped against Reuben Wood, either as an humble lawyer or honored magistrate. He was a man of genial disposition and tender sympathies. He was a wit and enjoyed fun, but on the bench was grave and dignified.
He resigned the office of governor in order to accept that of consul at Valparaiso, South America. But this failing to meet his expectations, he returned to Cleveland, and again entered his law office and private life. He died very suddenly, October, 1864.
As wife of the governor, Mrs. Reuben Wood, in a feminine way acquired as much distinction as her husband. She was very attractive, modest, intelligent, and refined, therefore capable of receiving the many famous guests they were called upon to entertain from time to time, with grace, tact, and dignity.
Mary Rice Wood was the daughter of Truman Rice of Clarendon, Vt., who removed to the wilderness of northern New York south-west of Sackets Harbor, at the close of the Revolutionary War. Here he erected a saw and grist-mill, a store, and a comfortable log-house for his family. He was an intelligent man, and his wife was a lovable, practical woman. The father's circumstances admitted of expense in the education of his four daughters, of whom Mary was the eldest, and at the age of 12 years she was sent away from home to a boarding-school that furnished superior advantages, so that when she married Reuben Wood, six years later, she was a fitting mate for the young, ambitious lawyer. She was ever devoted
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to the interests of her husband in either extreme of their circumstances, and as he advanced to high official positions, she gained unsought prominence in the most refined circles of the land. In her prosperity she was generous, and for the unfortunate had unbounded sympathy. In the fall of 1824, she returned to her eastern home to spend the winter, accompanied by a sister who had been visiting her. The Wood residence was rented for eight months to James L. Conger, a lawyer who with his young wife had just arrived in town. Judging from a letter written to relatives by Mrs. Conger, at that time, Reuben Wood and his wife were maintaining an unusually-comfortable--and attractive home within six years of their arrival in Cleveland.
In 1833, they moved on to a farm out on Detroit street, in what is now Lakewood, and gave it the name of "Evergreen Place." On this they lived after Governor Wood's retirement from public life. Both husband and wife were very fond of the beautiful in nature, and delighted in the cultivation of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Mrs. Wood spent many happy hours in her garden which was filled with common as well as rare floral treasures.
She outlived her husband 22 years, dying in Alameda, California, in the 89th year of her age.
Governor and Mrs. Reuben Wood rest in Woodland Cemetery.
Their children were both daughters.
Loretta Wood, m. George B. Merwin.
Mary Wood, m. Seabury L. Mastick of Alameda, Cal.
Loretta Wood married the eldest son of the Cleveland pioneers, Noble and Minerva Buckingham Merwin. She was born in 1818, and died in 1890, having lived all her long life in Cleveland. In her old age, she furnished some beautiful and touching reminiscences to the Old Settlers' Association, from which much herein is quoted. She says
"My first teacher was Eliza Beard, the daughter of cultivated Irish people. At the age of nine I went to school to Harvey Rice, then a young law student from the east who taught in the old academy on St. Clair street, now an engine house." Harvey Rice became her uncle the following year, by marrying Fanny Rice, her mother's sister.
"An adjoining lot covered with old stumps deposited there from various parts of the town, weather-beaten and bleached by storms, was our playground, the stumps our playhouses when we arranged our bits of broken crockery, not a set of little dishes having yet been brought to the village."
"I walk the streets of Cleveland today unmindful of the changes time and wealth have wrought. I see rather the scattered houses, the vacant lots, and the second growth of oaks and beeches covering them."
Seabury L. Mastick removed to San Francisco, Cal., soon after his marriage. He went into the lumber business and became wealthy. His wife survived him ten years. She died at the home of her son in Plainfield, N. J.
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1818
GRAVES
Dr. Ezra Graves, the pioneer physician of Cleveland, and contemporary of Dr. Long, is frequently mentioned in records of early dates. He lived where the Adelbert and Case colleges now stand. His practice was mostly with the pioneers living east of Willson Ave., now E. 55th St. He was eccentric in manner, but a skillful practitioner.
His family:
Hiram Graves.
Deborah Graves.
Temperance Graves.
Deborah Graves married Dr. Jonathan Simmons of-East Cleveland, in 1818, and died 1834. They had four children, Ezra Graves Simmons, who married Eliza Harris, daughter of Arial and Clarissa Sherman Harris, Sophrona Simmons, married Holly Miles of Newburgh ; Mary Simmons, married William Given of Cleveland, and Peter Simmons, removed to Denver, Col. If living he would be 80 years of age.
1818
WILBUR
Eliam and Mary Edson Wilbur were living on a farm in Batavia, N. Y., when their eldest son James B. Wilbur left home in 1818 to see for himself the little settlement on the south shore of Lake Erie about which reports had reached him, reports that were most favorable and alluring.
He had been here but a short time when he sent for his parents and sisters. The family consisted of two sons and two daughters. After his arrival in Cleveland, Eliam Wilbur was engaged in several occupations. He was employed by the town to lay out our Erie Street Cemetery, and he planted many of the trees that in after years made that sacred place so beautiful.
The family residence was on Bond Street in 1837. James B. Wilbur clerked for Nathan C. Hills in his grocery, corner of the Square and Superior street, where Marshall's drug-store now stands. Afterward he opened a grocery of his own, which he conducted for two or three years. He was in the stamp department of the post-office for a long time, and finally turned hotel-keeper with much success, managing the Forest City House.
In 1842, he married Miss Loretta Welch, many years his junior, and the daughter of that good woman, Mrs. Benjamin Welch. She is still living and young in heart through the ministrations of three married daughters of her own.
Nelson Wilbur, the other son of the family, became a Methodist minister, and preached most of the time in the south. He married a lady residing in a southern town where he was located.
Angelica Wilbur remained unmarried all her life.
Mary Wilbur married and died childless.
The above were sisters of James B. Wilbur.
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1818
CUTTER
The Cutter brothers were perfect types of New England manhood, poor, independent, industrious, ambitious. But while capable of hard work and self-denial in order to succeed, they would never lend themselves to sharp dealing in any shape. They were scrupulously honest and kind in their business transactions, always keeping within the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
There were three of them, Moses, Orlando, and Abilene Davis Cutter, who came here at an early day. They were the sons of Benjamin and Catherine Farnsworth Cutter of Alstead and Jeffrey, N. H. There were other sons and daughters who remained east.
The father seems to have been something of a rover, impractical, and lacking in high sense of responsibility to his family. He moved from Alstead to Woodstock, Vermont, and, while his younger children were yet of tender age, he again removed to the wilds of lower Canada, into a log-house two miles from any other residence, and where there were no opportunities whatever for their schooling.
Meanwhile, Moses Cutter, the eldest son, either remaining in Vermont or returning there, married and started a country store in Royalton.
At the age of twelve Orlando went to live with this brother, who sent him to school for three years, then paid him $4.00 a month and board for his services in the store, and the following year doubled his wages.
Orlando was now eighteen years of age, and he went to Boston and clerked for the next three years for a. dry-goods merchant. The estimation in which he was held for industry and honesty by his employer can be judged by the fact that when he concluded to seek his fortune in the far west, this man loaned him four hundred dollars for that purpose.
Detroit was his objective point, but after reaching that place he formed a business partnership with a Detroit firm and came to Cleveland to start a branch store. There were but three stores established here at that time, October, 1818, and there seemed to be business enough for more, on account of rapidly increasing trade between this port and the large farming district south of it.
But within a year his (Detroit) partners failed, leaving him responsible for debts that took ten years to liquidate. He paid them all and established himself on a firm basis, "without assistance from any one, not even to the amount of a dime."
He also introduced an auction business which for many years was a valuable asset to the city. This he turned over, eventually, to his sons and spent his declining years in caring for estates intrusted to his keeping.
Two years after his arrival in Cleveland, at the age of twenty-three, Orlando Cutter married Phyana Phelps of Willoughby, O., daughter of Seth and Sarah Pierce Phelps, formerly of Aurora, N. Y.
She lived nine years afterward, and was the mother of three children, two of whom reached maturity. They were:
Orlando Phelps Cutter, b. 1824 in Willoughby, O. He was the first of the patriotic sons of Orlando Cutter who offered their lives and services to their country in the Civil War. He was with Col. Barnett's battery for four years. It is said he was the first Clevelander to sail in a vessel from this port bound for California via Cape
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Horn. He was away at this time for seven years.
Edwin Cutter, b. 1827 in Cleveland;. m. (1) Helen Earl, daughter of Lorenzo and Marietta Earl ; m.(2) Ellen Patrick
In 1832 Orlando Cutter married (2) Sarah Hilliard, daughter of David and Lydia Hudson Hilliard, and sister of Richard Hilliard, the pioneer merchant.
She was a tall, fine-looking woman. Some of her six children closely resembled her. She died aged 66, in Nassau, N. J.
The Cutter children by the second marriage were:
Richard Hilliard Cutter, b. 1833; m. (1) Delphine Frances Wilson, daughter of Elisha Wilson of Cleveland. She died leaving no children. He m. (2) Mary Hamilton. He served in the Civil War.
William Lemen Cutter, b. 1838, was named for a popular citizen of the city. He m. Caroline Atwater, daughter of Charles and Mary. Kirtland Pease. William L. Cutter was engaged in mercantile and banking pursuits
Nelson Patrick Cutter, b. 1837; unmarried. Was a member of the first company of volunteers that. left Cleveland at the breaking out of the Civil War. He was taken ill and died that year, 1861. He gave his life to his country
John Farnsworth Cutter, b. 1841, was yet another son of this family who served through the Civil War. He was present at several decisive battles; marched with Sherman to Savannah, and nearly lost his life by starvation when a prisoner in Charlestown, S. C. He m. Josephine Kelsey, daughter of Lorenzo and Sophia Smith Kelsey. She was a sister of Mrs. John Devereaux
Helen Phyana Cutter, m. Henry J. Hoyt of Cleveland
Horace Long Cutter, m. Emily Harvey
Norman Webber Cutter, m. Marguerite Porter
Sarah Catherine Cutter, the youngest child of the family, is the only one now living in the-city. Richard, Helen and Horace reside elsewhere
Abilene Davis Cutter, son of Benjamin and Catherine Farnsworth Cutter, was five years younger than his brother Orlando. He was the only child of the family not born in New Hampshire. His birth was in 1802 in Woodstock, Vt.
His brother's venture probably fired his imagination and ambition, for a few months after Orlando's departure he started on foot to join him here. It is stated that he made a knapsack out of a tow blouse to contain his clothes while traveling.
Luckily, the lad was not obliged to carry out his plan of walking so .great a distance, for a part of the way two men in a lumber wagon shared their seat with him.
From Black Rock, N. Y., he continued his journey in the celebrated old steamer "Walk-in-the-Water," the first one on our lake. Many interesting stories are related of experiences shared by other pioneers who trusted their lives and stomachs, chiefly the latter, on the slow, shaky
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boat, that often anchored outside of the port for hours, and even days, unable to make harbor, and bobbing about on choppy seas while passengers suffered all the pangs of sea-sickness.
A. D. Cutter was but sixteen years of age when he reached this town. He at once began to clerk for his brother. Again the Cutter honesty and ability were recognized, for a few years later a wealthy merchant of this city, having a branch store in Wooster, O., dispatched him to that place to look after it, and later sold his interest out to Mr. Cutter. Later he returned to this city and until his death was one of its honored merchants.
He married, at Wooster, Mary Shepler Hemperly, b. 1816 at Beaver, Pa. They were married in 1831.
He died very suddenly in 1852. His widow, seven years later, became the second wife of Hon. John A. Foote.
The children of A. D. and Mary Cutter:
Julia, Phineas and Henrietta, who died young..
Mary Elizabeth Cutter, b. 1839; m. James M. Carson of Cleveland. She died leaving no children, and. J. M. Carson m. (2) Mary McMillen
Charles Long Cutter, b. 1842. He was a graduate of Western Reserve University, and afterward studied law. He m. Anne Spencer, daughter of T. P. Spencer
Frances Maria Cutter, b. 1843; m. Charles Dillingham
Emma Hutchins Cutter.
Martha Cutter.
William Henry Cutter.
Arthur Davis Cutter.
Orlando and Abilene D. Cutter lived for some years side by side on St. Clair Street, Mrs. Orlando Cutter's brother, Richard Hilliard, occupying an adjoining residence to the left of them.
Moses Cutter, eldest of the brothers, also came west. He lived and transacted business in this city for a time, but, as his sons were active and prominent citizens of St. Louis, he and his wife soon joined them in that city.
Mrs. Moses Cutter was born in 1775, and was the daughter of Col. Christopher Webber.
The burial lots of the Cutter family are in Woodland Cemetery.
1819
The first marriage notice in Cleveland Herald.
"On the 25th day of September last, at Monroe, by John Bean, Esq., Elder John Blodgett of Salem, to the amiable Miss Anna Abbott, of the former place."
The Monroe and Salem mentioned may have been in this state.
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The first death notice in Cleveland Herald.
"Died, Dec. 31, 1819, Mrs. Leora Barker, aged 21. She left parents, brothers, and sisters."
"The Rev. Philander Chase, bishop of the State of Ohio, will preach in the courthouse" (north-west corner of Public Square) "in the village of Cleveland at 10 o'clock A. M., Sept. 28, 1819." (Herald.)
Salt yet very high. One barrel worth as much as three barrels of. flour.
Money very scarce. Every sixpence and shilling coming to hand had to be put by for taxes.
To relieve the wants of the people the township trustees issued a hundred dollars in shin-plasters, signed by Daniel Kelly, President, and Horace Perry, clerk of the board of trustees. Silver dollars were cut into nine pieces, and half-dollars into five pieces in order to make change.
"Joel Smith advertises his boot and shoe shop-'a few rods north-west of Merwin's tavern."'
1819
In June, 1819, a mission Sabbath-school was organized in the old log courthouse standing in the center of the south-west corner of the Square. Elisha Taylor was elected Superintendent, and Moses White, afterward founder and deacon of First Baptist Church, was made the Secretary.
This little Sabbath-school established the infancy of the Stone Church and Presbyterianism in the city. Therefore, no one of that faith but must feel an interest in the personality of the little band of Christian workers, first ancestors of the great membership of today, possessing unlimited resources, and widespread influence.
But in 1819, it was very small and very poor. The log courthouse sheltered it for two years, and after that it experienced all the anxieties and uncertainties of those who rent or accept the charity of landlords.
For a while, it held forth in the small schoolhouse on south side of St. Clair street near Bank street, then, in the second story of the old Academy on the opposite side of the street, the site of No. 1 Engine House, and by the time James Kellogg had built a business block where the American House now stands, the society was housed in the third story, and the Sabbath-school had long taken its proper place as a training school of the organized church with its 28 charter members.
There were 16 adult names enrolled on that June Sabbath of 1819, and personal mention of each will be found in this volume. Besides Elisha Taylor and Moses White, there were Mrs. Taylor, S. I. Hamlin, Philip B. Andrews, Sophia L. Perry, widow of Nathan, Sr., Bertha Johnson,
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Sophia Walworth, Mrs. Mabel Howe, Miss Harriet Howe, Henry Baird, Mrs. Ann Baird, Juliana Long, Mrs. Isabelle Williamson, Mrs. Minerva Merwin, and Rebecca Carter, widow of Lorenzo.
1819
FOOTE
Herchel Foote was an enterprising and popular young man who established the first book-store in town, in 1819. Probably he was induced to do this by members of the Men's Literary Society, organized as early as 1810, who tried to maintain a small public library.
His book-store was on the north-west corner of Superior Street and the Public Square, now the site of Marshall's drug-store. He was also a singing-master, and while leading the choir in the Old Stone Church, conducted singing-schools at Doan's Corners, and sometimes in Newburgh or Euclid.
He sold his book-store to Mr. Rouse, and bought one of general merchandise on the opposite side of the street below Seneca, and formerly owned by S. S. Dudley. Within a few years, he removed out on Euclid Ave., in what is now East Cleveland, where he was made a justice of the peace and postmaster of the village.
He came to Cleveland from Utica, N. Y., although his birthplace was Canton, Conn. He was the fourth son of John Foote, Jr. His mother was Lois Mills Foote, daughter of Dea. Benjamin and Hannah Humphrey Mills of Canton. His parents both died when he was 10 years old, the mother in December, 1802, and his father in the following June.
In 1821, he married Pamelia Townsend, daughter of Christopher Townsend of Albany, N. Y. Her mother died at her birth and Jonathan and Hannah Bliss, who had no children of their own, adopted her as their daughter. Afterward they became Cleveland pioneers of 1816, bringing the little girl, then 11 years of age, with them. She matured into an attractive young woman with unusually refined speech and bearing, and was universally admired and respected. She was 17 years old at the time of her marriage, and her husband was 28.
For over 30 years Herchel Foote kept a store on the southwest corner of Euclid Ave. and-Noble Road, and lived in a large house about 100 feet west of it. His store was one of the usual village type, containing drygoods, hardware, and groceries. He was popular with his neighbors, and drew trade from a wide area. So successful was he that some time in the early '50s he enlarged his business resources by building a big brick store directly opposite the one he had occupied so long. It was over 60 feet in length, and as the largest one thus far built in that locality, it was considered quite a pretentious building. He sent east for a big stock of goods and the outlook for trade seemed exceedingly flattering. Bennet Townsend, a brother-in-law, was taken in as partner.
But while business had been thus prospering with Mr. Foote, his
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household affairs were not on as satisfactory a footing. Mrs. Foote was a favorite in Cleveland society, and frequently entertained her intimate friends in it. Mrs. T. M. Kelley, Mrs. Weddell, Mrs. Sherlock Andrews, the Hoadleys, and the Woolseys would often drive out in their carriages to call upon Mrs. Foote, to take tea with her, or to spend the day.
Trouble began with Mrs. Foote's neglect to introduce her maids to the company and by requiring them to serve the table instead of sitting down at it with the guests. In the country district of that day this was an innovation. The "help" proved her claim of "being as good as anybody else" by being seated with the family, and when necessary, it-was more often the mistress who left the table to procure some forgotten adjunct of it, or attend to the dessert. Mrs. Foote's very reasonable and sensible requirements as viewed from the stand-point of our day and generation, were considered personal insults, not only by the maids, but by their following of relatives and friends, although in every other way Mrs. Foote had been the most considerate mistress.
Meanwhile, the social attention she received and the customary sight of carriages standing before her door began to excite the animosity of the envious. This feeling grew as inevitably as all sentiment grows in a community that has but few outside interests, and every happening is of account.
Nearly north of this locality was a settlement with a reputation of being "rough," and which furnished most of the help sought by housewives, within a radius of several miles. About the time that Mr. Foote launched out in his new store, he unfortunately added to the antagonism that had been smoldering in that settlement against his family by an adverse decision as a justice of the peace against two tavern-keepers whose business had sunk to the level of grogshops merely. The result was a boycott of his store, carried on aggressively and persistently, winning over or cowering his former customers. He became unable to meet his local bills or to pay eastern creditors, and finally he failed heavily. Disheartened and discouraged by the turn of affairs he traded his property on Euclid Ave. for Wisconsin land valued at $10 an acre, which proved to be mostly under water, and worth about 50 cents an acre.
"Nicest people I ever knew," declared an old gentleman born and raised within a few rods of the Foote homestead, and who narrated to the writer the above facts. "We never had finer neighbors, before or since. Kind, generous, and good through and through. Best folks I ever met, and it wasn't long after they left town that hired girls were expected to wait on table and eat afterward, and no one kicked up a rumpus over it, either. I know for a fact that more than one was sorry and ashamed that they didn't stand up for the Footes and down those no-account people who made all that trouble for them."
Mr. Herchel Foote removed to Saratoga Springs, N. Y. He died in the autumn of 1870 in his 80th year, at Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Foote died at the home of her son Edward in Larchmont Manor, N. Y., aged 89 years. This son had become a successful physician of New York City, with a summer home at Larchmont, and his son Dr. Edward Bliss Foote succeeded him in his practice.
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The children of Herchel and Pamelia Foote:
Alfred Mills Foote, b. 1822; m. Ruth. Adams; 2nd, Miss Sally Brush His later years were spent on a fruit farm in New Jersey
Edward Bliss Foote.
1819
WILLES
Three old weather-beaten headstones standing in a row in Erie Street Cemetery to the right of the main entrance are of peculiar interest to one having the early history of the city at heart. They indicate the graves of the first three editors of the old Cleveland Herald, Luther Willes, Ziba Willes, and Jewett Prime. All three died comparatively young, and of the same disease, tuberculosis.
The Willes were brothers, and the year they came to Cleveland, 1819, Luther was 30 and Ziba 24 years old. It has been found impossible to secure aught concerning the previous lives of these young men save that they were the sons of Sylvanus Willes of some town of New Hampshire, and that they came to Cleveland by the way of Erie, Pa., where, in September, 1818, Ziba had started the first newspaper published in that place. It was christened the "Erie Gazette," and was a venture that lasted but a year.
At the expiration of that time, the press, type, and other paraphernalia of a small printing-office were transferred to Cleveland, and in October, 1819, was published the first issue of the Cleveland Herald, a newspaper that existed for 66 years.
Ziba Willes was assisted in this by a former friend and associate, Eber D. Howe, a practical printer 21 years of age, whose native home was Clifton Springs, Saratoga County, N. Y. Mr. Howe retained his connection with the Herald but two years, then removed to Painesville, Ohio, where in July, 1822, he started the Painesville Telegraph. After his departure, Luther Willes was associated for a time with his brother in the publication of the Herald, but finally withdrew and removed to Bedford, Ohio.
Luther Willes married Fanny Willey, daughter of Allen and Sophia Frink Willey of Goshen, N. H. She was an exceptionally intelligent and attractive young woman, and a sister of Hon. John W. Willey, first Mayor of Cleveland. Although possessing no data to prove the supposition, the writer is inclined to the belief that the Willeys and the Willes brothers had been neighbors or schoolmates previous to their residence here, and that their arrival in Cleveland in the same year was not by mere chance.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther Willes led an ideal life in the beautiful little village of Bedford. They were within an easy drive of Cleveland, and their pretty, hospitable home was often filled with their numerous town relatives and intimate friends.
Mr. and Mrs. John Willey, Rev. Elijah Willey, Dr. Joshua Mills and
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wife, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Andrews, and the Dodge relatives were frequent and welcome guests. And hither in 1826 came the younger brother, Ziba Willes, already bearing in his shrunken cheeks and hollow cough premonitions of the fate that awaited him. A disease incident to childhood had affected his hearing and precluded general conversation, which caused him, at times, to experience the loneliness that comes to those alike afflicted. He is said to have been a very lovable character, kind, gentle, friendly to every one, regardless of circumstance, and exceedingly honest. He died at his brother's home in Bedford in 1830, aged 35 years, and was brought back to Cleveland and buried in Erie Street Cemetery.
Three years later Luther Willes, stricken by the same malady, was laid to rest beside him.
The children of Luther and Fanny Willes.:
Charles Luther Willes, m. Anna Maria Gleason..
Maria Louise Willes, m. Gen. Jacob Medary of Columbus, Ohio..
Caroline A. Willes, m. Dr. Henry Slosson, a Cleveland physician and druggist
Fanny Willes, m. Michael L. Sulliyant
Annette Willes, died young.
Mrs. Luther Willes survived her husband 47 years, and dying at an advanced age was laid beside the companion of her youth in Erie Street Cemetery. Her children, bereft of father in helpless childhood, received the best efforts of her life and made a success of their own. Her only son Charles, left a daughter, Miss Mary Sue Willes, who at this date, 1911, is an associate editor of a newspaper in St. Paul, Minn.
1819
SCRANTON
Scranton Avenue is one of the few city streets named after pioneers that has escaped the vandalism of the council that changed nomenclature into numbers.
Stephen Scranton of Ludlow, Mass., married Asenath Wright, daughter of Abel and Joshua Wright of New London, Conn. The couple had a family of eight children, the older of whom were born in Ludlow and Belcherstown, and the youngest, twin-daughters, Cornelia and Harriet, were born in 1817 near Cooperstown, N. Y.
Stephen Scranton was a skillful worker in steel and iron. He was a man of unusual ability with an inventive turn of mind. He built works in Otsego Co., N. Y., for the manufacture of cut nails, the first one of 1 its kind in the state. He possessed rare energy, and had he lived in this later day, would have been known as a "captain of industry" from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
But misfortune overtook him. His works were swept out of exist-
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ence by fire again and again. The last time they burned down, he ;,gave up the struggle, and with his family removed west, settling in Brighton, Lorain County.
Eunice Scranton, the oldest child of the family, married Rev. Steven V. Taylor, LL. D., President of Madison University, N. Y.
Abel Scranton died of consumption in Cleveland in 1828 at the age of 20.
Joel Scranton, the second child of Stephen and Ascenath Scranton, was born in Belcherstown in 1793. His father's continued misfortunes early made it imperative for Joel to strike out for himself. He had typical Yankee shrewdness to a degree, attributes more suited to mercantile pursuits than the one with which his boyhood had been familiar.
He was 26 years old when he came to Cleveland in 1819, on a little schooner laden with leather. He rented a small store at the foot of Superior Street, and in it stored his cargo. He soon disposed of it, for it was a commodity much in demand. Of this he had assured himself on a former visit, and reconnoiter. To the sale of leather he added that of dry-goods and groceries, and within a few years was doing a business that was steady in yearly growth.
He bought a farm of many acres lying between the river and the amphitheater of hills east and south of it, and since known as "Scranton Flats." Here he built a commodious brick dwelling, in which he lived and died. Years ago, some one with a facile pen pictured, most alluringly
"The old home and orchard at the foot of the hill, the boat swinging by a chain to a ring in its nose at the shore, the horses and kine pasturing upon the green meadows of the Cuyahoga, the woods that crowned the heights, the humble dwellings struggling up the bluffs as if trying to scale them."
"The flocks of cheep grazing in the pasture have been succeeded by the white fleeces of the busy steam, and the rasp of scythes by the roar of a thousand wheels."
Mr. Scranton sometimes complained whimsically that his big farm and other extensive holdings kept him "land poor." Taxes and improvements yearly growing heavier and currency scarcer.
A Mr. Averill living in the east was his partner in real-estate holdings. "Scranton & Averill," as the firm was known, ceased at Mr. Scranton's death. Mr. Averill came on to Cleveland occasionally, but took no active part in the business. A son and three daughters inherited the latter's interest in the firm, and until very recently, if not yet, the heirs have drawn yearly upon the Cleveland estate.
In the office of T. H. and Edward Bushnell,. Society for Savings Building, hangs a letter written by Joel Scranton to Mr. Averill in those early days of land investment.
Mr. Scranton was very unconventional, independent, and democratic. He had a keen sense of humor, and any one who could inveigle him into reminiscence was certain of a rare treat.
In June, 1829, by Rev. Stephen Peet, he was married to Miss Irene P. Hickox. She was the daughter of David and Phebe Post Hickox, who settled in Clinton, N. Y., a college town, in order to give their children
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educational advantages. The family consisted of a son, Jesse Hickox, and several daughters.
David Hickox removed to Kinsman, Trumbull County, Ohio, and introduced into that locality the culture of silkworms which was attracting much attention in the east. He brought with him to Ohio cuttings of mulberry which he grafted upon native stock.
David Hickox served three years in the War of the American Revolution. He enlisted March, 1777, and was discharged June, 1780.
Irene Hickox finished her education at Mrs. Pierce's famous seminary in Litchfield, Conn., after which with Mrs. Lewis and an older sister, she started a school for young ladies at Warren, Ohio. A third sister looked after the household needs of the establishment while the others taught.
This venture was not a financial success however, and the sisters divided forces. Irene came to Cleveland and opened a select school in a dwelling on Superior Street below the present site of the American House. But Joel Scranton had other plans for Miss Irene, which he finally persuaded her to accept, and she dismissed her classes to become the mistress of his heart and home. There have been from time to time many beautiful tributes paid to Mrs. Scranton by those who knew her as a gentle, lovely girl, and as a cultured Christian woman whose society and friendship were sought and treasured alike by rich and poor.
She had a family of five children, four of whom she laid away one by one in Woodland Cemetery, and where she rests beside them.
The children of Joel and Irene Hickox Scranton:
Helen Maria Scranton, b. 1830; died at seven years of age..
Mary J. Scranton, b. 1832; m. in 1858, William Bradford.
George Hickox Scranton, b. 1834;. died 11 months old.
Emily Louise Scranton, b. 1836; died 1857, 21 years
Charles Hickox Scranton, b. 1839; died of quick consumption, aged 10 years
Jenney-----, an adopted daughter, died of consumption.
Mrs. Mary Scranton, widow of the late William Bradford, has been long the sole survivor of her father's family. She lost her only child in infancy, but her home has never been a childless one. In it has dwelt perpetual youth through the presence there of one after another to whom she has been a mother. Her sympathy for-the widow and the fatherless, and the homeless, has been acute and tender, and under many circumstances Mrs. Bradford has stood between the unfortunate and bitter, physical suffering. No one will ever learn of it through her.
She has been an active worker in the Old Trinity for many years. She founded the home on Prospect Street, giving to it personal service as well as financial support.
Mrs. Mary Bradford is one of the board of managers of the Women's department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission of 1896, under whose auspices this historical and genealogical work is being prepared and pub-
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lished. For several years she has maintained at her home on Euclid Ave. the annual meeting of the board.
Mrs. Bradford's cousin and adopted daughter, Ella Bradford, married Rt. Rev. William Montgomery Brown, Bishop of Arkansas.
1819
ARMSTRONG
John Armstrong and wife, Phebe Stewart Armstrong, were living in East Cleveland in 1819. They were from New Jersey, that state that furnished so many of East Cleveland's earliest pioneers.
Elizabeth Armstrong, m. A. B. Gillspie..
Catherine Armstrong.
Adeline Armstrong, m. Jason Abbott. Died in Chardon, O..
Euphemia Armstrong, m. Ansel Walworth-Cleveland.
Caroline Armstrong, m. Luther Lewis
Snover Armstrong, m. Mary Gun, granddaughter of Elijah Gun the pioneer of 1797
1819
SOUTHWORTH
The name of Ebulous A. Southworth as early pioneer of Cleveland, does not appear in the Southworth genealogy, neither is there any other record available that gives his parentage or birthplace. He probably belonged to the New England branch of that family.
His occupation is given as "mill wright" and again as "carpenter and contractor." He served the town in a public capacity in different years, and was on the first public school board. He seems to have been a useful and respected citizen, who in the first years of his residence here was possessed of considerable property both real-estate and personal.
He was owner of original lots 29 and 30, bounded by St. Clair, Bank and Lake streets. His-home was No. 94 Bank Street, and he had a large carpenter shop on Academy Street.
In 1828 is recorded his marriage to Elizabeth Belden, 27 years of age, the daughter of Silas and Sarah Andrews Belden of Canaan, Conn. She met Mr. Southworth while making her home with her brother, the well known pioneer, Silas Belden. She was a teacher in the Academy on St. Clair Street, and was pleasantly recalled by her pupils in succeeding years.
The business panic of 1837 started a rapid decline in Mr. Southworth's fortune. His homestead on Bank street and other property are found in the many lists of delinquent taxes advertised for years following the
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panic. The former, 66 feet, was sold in 1841 at auction by John A. Vincent, who had a mortgage upon it. Mrs. Southworth kept a boardinghouse on Bank street for many years before and after the death of her husband. The latter was an estimable man, industrious, and of abstemious habits, but he lacked the business ability that in more skillful hands would have redeemed his fortune.
He died in 1870. Mrs. Southworth outlived all her family, and passed away in 1888 at the advanced age of 87.
The children of Ebulous and Elizabeth Southworth:
Mary C. Southworth, died in 1879, aged 45 years..
Sarah Southworth, died 1887, aged 49 years.
Louis Southworth, died 1862, aged 16 years
The only son was the idol of his parents and sisters, and his early death was a blow from which they never recovered. Mr. and Mrs. Southworth were charter members of the First Methodist Church. The family all lie in Erie Street Cemetery.
1819
COWLES
Judge Samuel Cowles, son of Joseph and Sarah Mills Cowles, was born in Simsbury, Conn., and at the age of forty-four removed to Cleveland. It was in 1819, when the town was little more than a hamlet. He was a graduate of Williams College, had practised law for many years, and was a handsome, dignified gentleman of the old school of manners. Soon he became one of Cleveland's foremost and honored citizens, a lawyer of wide reputation, and was made a judge of common pleas court.
Besides the practice of his profession, he was identified with several business interests, and in time accumulated a fine property. He was considered a safe counselor and in all money transactions perfectly reliable and above all criticism.
His partner for many years was Alfred Kelley, a brilliant lawyer of early Cleveland, who was a railroad promoter during the '40s, and who removed to Columbus, where he died. -
Judge Cowles' name occurs frequently in all histories of early Cleveland, especially in connection with philanthropic movements. He was president of the first anti-slavery society organized in northern Ohio, and was active in efforts to ameliorate the physical and spiritual condition of sailors frequenting our port.
Late in life, 1832, Judge Cowles married Miss Cornelia Whiting, a beautiful young woman of Lenox, Mass., many years his junior. Her parents were Gamaliel and------ Dismore Whiting, and she was a sister of William B. Whiting, later a resident of the city.
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Mrs. Cornelia Cowles was tall and of graceful and dignified bearing. She was universally admired and esteemed by the society of the village soon destined to be a city. Judge and Mrs. Cowles made a very distinguished-looking couple. They boarded at the Scovill Tavern until the completion of an elegant mansion which was being erected for them on the south side of Euclid Avenue, the present site of the Taylor store and Arcade.
Here Mrs. Cowles entertained most royally her own friends and the many distinguished associates of her husband. The couple were not blessed with children of their own, but their spacious home was made gay and attractive by young relatives of both. Mrs. Cowles' nephews and nieces, children of William Whiting, spent much of their time with her, and their presence in the household drew to it the younger element of the society of that day. Judge Cowles also had a very attractive young niece, Miss Helen Cowles, and some nephews, Samuel, Edwin, and Giles Cowles, all children of his half-sister Almira Foote, wife of Dr. E. W. Cowles, and they helped to make their uncle's house lively.
Judge Cowles died in 1837 and was buried in Erie Street Cemetery. His widow continued to occupy the homestead for some years, then sold it, in 1853, to a Roman Catholic sisterhood who established in it the Ursuline Convent and School. Not until 1893 was the building vacated and demolished. The lot upon which it stood was wide and extended back to Prospect Street. At his death Judge Cowles willed this end of the lot to his nephews.
After the sale of the Euclid residence Mrs. Cowles lived on the west side of Erie street near Superior. Meanwhile, she contracted an unfortunate second marriage with a Dr. Williams whom she divorced, much to the gratification of all her friends.
Her niece Cornelia Whiting, a charming young woman, continued to live with her aunt and was her devoted companion until Mrs. Cowles' death in 1864. The latter left considerable property, part of which consisted of a business block, 226 Superior street near the Square.
One-fourth of this she willed to the First Methodist Episcopal Church, also $6,000 in money with which to build it, and other bequests to religious and charitable societies. The residue of her estate was divided among her nephews and nieces.
Mrs. Cornelia Cowles was placed beside her husband and her mother in Erie Street Cemetery.
1819
BURGESS
Almon Burgess, son of Ebenezer and Hannah Gibbs Burgess of Sandwich, Mass., in 1808 married Betsey Hill of Grafton, Vt. They came to Cleveland eleven years later, and their first home was a log-house on Lake Street near Water Street set in the woods. Tall forest trees or an undergrowth of oaks, with stumps in every direction, surrounded them.
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1819
BURGESS
A few years later a narrow, new street was cut between Bank and Water streets, which was given the name of Burgess Lane, which later was changed to Orange Alley, and finally to Johnson Street. Here the Burgess family moved, and here Mr. and Mrs. Burgess died.
Orange Alley was a favorite residence from the start, because it was so near the heart of the settlement. Every one who could, lived below the Public Square, and so, many families who afterward became very prominent in the social and commercial life of the hamlet, lived for many years on Orange Alley or Johnson Street.
Mrs. Burgess was a small, delicate woman, naturally pale, and gentle in her speech. She is remembered with enthusiasm by those now living who knew her in her childhood.
Mr. Dudley Baldwin once remarked that her boys, who developed into succesful business men, inherited their talent in that direction from their mother, who was capable and far-sighted. Mr. Burgess was a kind-hearted, honest, inteligent man, but not a money-maker; consequently, the family suffered hardship until the two sons were able to assist in its support. They were devoted to their mother through life, and could rarely speak of her without tears. She never failed to visit their bedside every night of their boyhood to bid them good-night, and to tuck in the bed-clothes. Mr. Burgess died in 1873, aged 88 years, and Mrs. Burgess in 1850, aged 72 years.
On the corner of Water and Johnson streets was a building in which a man named Lee was brought suffering with cholera in the fatal epidemic of 1832. No one was brave enough to care for the victim, and he doubtless would have died there alone in his great suffering but for Mr. Burgess who attended to his wants with the greatest tenderness until the man recovered. In this same year, a steamboat landed some cholera stricken sailors or passengers on the beach near the mouth of the river, which was then many rods west of where it now is, and abandoned the poor wretches to their fate, proceeding on its way to Detroit. Again Mr. Burgess responded to the call of humanity, and carried them to a place of shelter, nursed them night and day, and saw that those who died were buried with respect and decency.
His daughter, Almira Burgess, born 1810, married Ara Sprague, a man very much like his father-in-law, for when nearly the whole hamlet was ill with fever, every member of the Walworth family stricken, and not enough well ones to care for the sick, Mr. Ara Sprague nursed people night and day until worn out himself for want of rest and sleep. He removed to Huron, Erie Co. Almira Burgess Sprague died, and Ara Sprague married secondly Dinah Munger, an exceedingly bright woman, who, three years ago, was living in Chicago, nearly 100 years of age.
Ara and Almira Sprague's son, George Sprague, was a prominent commission merchant doing business on Merwin Street until after the Civil War. The second child of Almon and Betsey Burgess was Clarissa, a beautiful girl who died in her teens and was greatly mourned by her family and young companions. Cleveland men yet living recall her as a sweet personality.
Eliza Burgess married Dr. D. C. Branch, and also removed to Huron,
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but returned to the city in after years. She lived to be an old lady, leaving an unmarried daughter.
Solon Burgess, of the long well-known firm of S. & L. Burgess, wholesale grocers, never married. He was much interested in all benevolent work of the city. He died aged 83 years.
Leonard Burgess, the only child born in Cleveland, married Renda Lyon, grandchild of the founder of Strongsville, Ohio. He died a few years since, aged 79. His widow died recently. A very interesting daughter, Anna Burgess, survives her parents, and lives on Prospect Street, near Hayward. True to the traditions of her family, she cares little for society, and devotes much of her time and her income to benevolent enterprises.
1819
BLAIR
It was in 1819, that John and Henry Blair, pioneers of Cleveland, left the Maryland home of their parents Samuel and Polly (Shields) Blair, journeyed across the Alleghenies, and came, at length, to the hamlet of Cleveland on Lake Erie.
They were farmer boys and poor. John was 26 years old and had just $3 in his wallet, yet his whole cash capital seemed a goodly sum in those days of virtually no money, barter and exchange being the only method of doing business.
He had a healthy, vigorous body, an active mind and a stout heart, and within a short time was making a good living for himself and family.
In July, 1820, his first child was born, showing that either he brought his wife with him or was married soon after his arrival in Cleveland. She was Elizabeth Holm, daughter of Abraham Holm of Wilkesburgh, Pa., and was 22 years old.
The young couple boarded for a time at the Carter Tavern, and then began housekeeping at No. 60 Bank street. Their lot was wide, extending to the north-east corner of St. Clair street, and ran through to Academy street, named for the school building erected on the corner of John Blair's home lot, and facing St. Clair street. It is now Fire Engine House No. 1.
The Blair residence was in the center of the lot, and the ground space to the south side of it was devoted to flowers, of which Mrs. Blair was passionately fond, spending many hours each day in caring for them. Her flower-garden was the admiration of the town, and its location on the corner of two - principal streets made it conspicuous, and brought its beauty and fragrance in close touch with the passer-by.
Many a handful of her precious blossoms did kind Mrs. Blair hand over her picket-fence to children who on their way to the Academy paused with wistful eyes at the flowers in bloom. And we may be sure that many of her floral treasures found their way into the homes of neighbors or friends, to cheer the invalid or as a tribute to departed ones.
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BLAIR
It was in this garden-spot that the artist sat to sketch the well-known "View of St. Clair street looking east from Bank street in 1836."
John Blair was a very capable business man, quickly recognizing opportunities and availing himself of them. He built a warehouse on the river south of where St. Clair street begins. Like other warehouses of early days, it was painted red, and for long years was a landmark on the river-front.
He engaged in the forwarding and commission business, traded with Indians and farmers, and sent their furs and produce off on vessels flying between this port and others.
The opening of the canal helped him considerably, and he built the first boat, the one that in 1827 took the celebrated trip to Eight-mile Lock and return, bearing as passengers a distinguished company of citizens and out-of-town guests.
In 1836 John Blair erected a fine Colonial homestead on a large farm he had purchased on Euclid Ave. beyond Hudson street, renamed Sterling Ave., now E. 30th St.
Probably no house in Cleveland Township was more carefully or staunchly built. It was a facsimile of Mr. Blair's boyhood home in Maryland.
It set far back from the south side of the road, so far that when Prospect street was extended eastward from Sterling Ave., it passed north of the house with the sidewalk but a few feet from its front door. The house had a two-storied veranda to the main part, and high wings flanked this on each side. The Blair lane that led from the house to Euclid Ave. then became "Fern street."
The Blairs maintained a lavish hospitality in this many-roomed mansion. It seemed very far out of town in those days and many a string of carriages in summer, or bob-sleds in winter, bore crowds of town friends out to the hospitable home to be entertained at supper and to spend the evening.
Mrs. Blair's garden was transplanted from the old Bank street site, and greatly enlarged and enriched with rare floral treasures.
She died in 1860, at 63 years of age. Mr. Blair survived her 12 years. They were both laid at rest in Erie Street Cemetery.
The family consisted of six children, only one of whom married. They were:
Mary Jane Blair, died 1899, aged 79 years.
Eliza Ann Blair, died 1899, aged 77; m. George W. Slingluff. .
Henry Blair, died 1826, aged 2 years
Harriet Blair, died 1835, aged 8 years
John H. Blair, died 1872, aged 42 years
Elizabeth Blair, died 1904, aged 72 years.
.The Blair daughters were all fine women, all members of the Old Stone Church.
Elizabeth, the last one of the family, was the treasurer of the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission, and was greatly interested in the preparation of these volumes. At her death the homestead was demolished.
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1819
BROOKS
One of the early pioneers of Newburgh was David Brooks. He was of New England stock, having been born in Bristol, Vermont, in 1782. About the age of 31, he went to St. Lawrence County, New York, and there married Miss Mercy Holcomb, a young woman of sterling worth whose father had been an officer in the American Revolution; she also was born in Vermont, in the town of Panton.
In the year 1819, Mr. and Mrs. David Brooks came to Newburgh, settling temporarily in the western part of the township. Three years later, Mr. Brooks purchased 100 acres of land of John Hubbard, on the southwest corner of what is now Harvard street and Marcelline Ave., but which then were scarcely more than bridle-paths, and the immediate neighborhood an unbroken wilderness. He immediately erected a log house on Harvard street, in which they lived many years, and afterwards he built a frame-house on Marcelline Ave., where he and his wife died.
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Greenleese, who bought adjoining land on the west, used to make yearly pilgrimages to Madison, Ohio, on horseback to make payments on their land to Mr. Hubbard, who lived in that place.
There were nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brooks. They were:
Betsey Brooks, m. Franklin A. Andrus. She died in her 60th year..
Samuel Brooks, m. Caroline Rathbun..
Freeman Brooks, m. Lydia Rathbun
Harriet Brooks, m. Henry L. Ferris
David Brooks, Jr., died at the age of 21
Charles Brooks, m. Sarah Ann Snell.
Midas Brooks, m. Sarah Walpole.
Betsey Brooks Andrus often talked of her girlhood days, and one of her stories told to the younger generation she was compelled to repeat over and over. It seemed so incredible and so thrilling. One day, a huge black bear came lumbering across the road in front of the old loghouse. One can imagine the scampering in-doors, the fright, and the anxiety as to what the creature would do. But he went steadily about his business, whatever that may have been, and passing west of the house, he disappeared down the big gully, yet in a state of primitive wilderness.
Harriet Brooks Ferris, the youngest daughter, who removed to Hammond, N. J., says that the women of the family grew tired of the limits and inconveniences of the log-cabin, and were all delighted when the new frame-house was ready for occupancy. And yet, in looking back upon the earlier home, she realized that they had lived happy, peaceful lives, that the expression "Log House Hospitality" indicated all that it meant to express, a never-failing one. Wayfarers asking for lodging and food were never turned away. Somehow, and in some way, sometimes with much over-crowding and discomfort for the family, room was made, even for quite a party arriving hungry and worn out with travel.
Caroline, Malinda, and Lydia Rathbun, who married the Brooks boys, were the daughters of Edmund and Julia Rathbun.
Samuel Brooks died in his 47th year, and his wife survived him for many years.
Charles Brooks settled in South Bend, Ind.
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BLAIR
Freeman Brooks removed to Madison, Ohio, and died there in his 69th year. His widow returned to Newburgh, and lived several years after her husband's death.
The members of the Brooks family who remained in Newburgh and held on to their property were well repaid, as in time it became of great value. The farms were cut into building lots, and are now the most populous part of that part of Cleveland. Several of the grandchildren have made much of their lives, and today are highly respected members of society.
1819
BLAIR
Henry Blair of Maryland was a brother of John Blair the merchant. Henry was a mason, and perhaps more necessary to the little town than his brother, for men with a trade were in much demand those days, while there seemed to be merchants in plenty. He never gained much wealth, but he married a member of a fine family, and raised children who were a credit to the community.
Mrs. Blair was Eliza Meech, daughter of Gurdon and Lucy Swan Meech of Bozrah, Conn., who came to the city in 1832. Her sisters were Mrs. O. M. Burke, Mrs. Jabez Gallup, and Mrs. Isham Morgan, all the finest of women.
The children of Henry and Eliza Meech Blair;
Hattie Blair, m. George Wyman.
Nelly Blair, m. Henry Newbury, a. second wife.
Lucy Blair, m. William Wallace Goodwin
Minnie Blair, m. Harvey Rice, Jr.
The Henry Blairs lived No. 63 Ontario street.
1819
HUBBARD
Israel Hubbard and his wife Rhoda Hulbert, daughter of Timothy and Nabby Hulbert, moved from Broome, Schoraic County, N. Y., to Newburgh, in 1819. Mr. Hubbard's father had exchanged a farm in Broome for a large tract of unimproved timber land in Newburgh, now within the city limits.
With Mr. Israel Hubbard were his sister Cynthia Hubbard Titus, her husband Stephen Titus, and their three children. Mr. Hubbard commenced a clearing, built a log-house, and with his wife and babe moved into it. This log-cabin stood on the north side of Woodland Ave., nearly
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1819
BLAIR
opposite Herald street. Later, Stephen Titus and family took up their residence there.
Wolves often howled around the house very unpleasantly. One evening, after the ground about the house had been cleared and corn growing, Mrs. Hubbard saw what she thought to be a black hog in the corn, and went to drive it away. It ran before her until it reached a fence, she following it closely, when, to her amazement, it climbed over. It was a black bear.
In 1822, the Hubbard and Titus families moved into new homes on what was afterward Kinsman street, but then dense woods. Mrs. Hubbard died 30 years after coming here, aged 53 years.
The children:
Emmeline Hubbard, m. Mr. Warren.
Ruth Hubbard.
Aaron Hubbard.
Jared Hubbard.
After Mrs. Rhoda Hubbard's death, Mr. Hubbard married Phebe Hotchkiss, born 1822. She had two sons and two daughters : William, Frank, Ada, and Mary Hubbard.
In the summer of 1820, Aaron Hubbard, father of Israel, his wife Esther Tibbals Hubbard, their daughter Ada, and their son Amos moved from Broome to the new home. They came in two covered wagons, one drawn by horses, the other by oxen, and brought with them one or more cows, which supplied them with milk on the three weeks' journey. They were accompanied by David Sheldon, wife and sisters, bound for Richfield. When they reached Buffalo, Mr. Hubbard shipped the heaviest of his loads, and took passage on the steamer "Walk-in-the-Water," leaving his wife in charge of the company. She drove the horses all the way from Buffalo to Newburgh.
They entered the State of Ohio on July Fourth. They came upon some boys celebrating Independence Day with a pine-log cannon, the leader of whom was considerate enough to warn her that they were about to fire, and to hold the horses with a tight rein.
The one log-house previously built on Woodland Ave. sheltered the three families for several weeks after their arrival, then another house was built. Mr. Hubbard had intended building a frame-house, at once, for his wife, and had brought nails and hardware with him for that purpose. But a barn for storing their crops was a necessity, and the nails went into it, and the more ambitious home was postponed for two years.
Mrs. Aaron Hubbard was a woman of good judgment, cheerful, intelligent, fond of reading, and retained her mental faculties and excellent memory to the last of her long life. She was born in Durham, Conn., in 1771. The memories of her childhood included the Revolutionary War. One winter, when subsistence for the Continental Army was hard to be obtained, the troops were quartered at the homes of Connecticut people, one, two or more, in a place. Four were sent to her father's, Mr.
Tibbal's home, and remained there all winter. When she was about eight years old, word came that Gen. Washington was expected to pass through the town, and her family all went out to the gate to salute him as he passed by.
Mrs. Hubbard not only lived to see great changes from the wilderness
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MATHER
to cultivated fields and refined homes, but also the universal change from hand work to machine work. She survived her husband many years, an example of cheerful, unselfish, Christian, old age, being 88 years old at her death.
Israel Hubbard, m. Rhoda Hulbert.
Cynthia Hubbard, m. Stephen Titus.
Ada Hubbard, m. Richard Woolsey, in 1821, and lived in Willoughby, O..
Amos Hubbard, m. Doty Hand, sister of Mrs. David Clement, in 1828. (He died in 1837, and his widow married John Healy, by whom she had two sons, the well known Healy brothers, merchants of Newburgh.)
John Hubbard, m. Rebecca Bergan; 2nd, Mrs. Jennie Hazen
Esther Hubbard, m. Alvin B. Rathbun
Hemen Hubbard, m. Helen M. Knapp.
1819
MATHER
Cleveland had a very early citizen who was a lineal descendant and namesake of Cotton Mather the celebrated Massachusetts divine.
The Cleveland Cotton Mather was educated for the ministry, but health failing, he was sent by his parents into the wilds of Pennsylvania in the hope that he might there recruit his strength, and be enabled to return east and enter upon the career planned for him.
But Cupid, roaming the western forests, met up with Mr. Mather, and shot him with an arrow that diverted all life lines laid out into other channels. The young man met a Scotch lassie named Charlotte Dagget, the daughter of a farmer living in Greenfield, Pa., and straightway fell deeply in love.
Many and various were the protestations that poured in upon him from his family, but without avail. When the wedding took place has not been preserved, but one of their six children was born in 1810.
The family removed to Cleveland about 1819, and, evidently, Mr. Mather purchased one or more of the outlying ten-acre lots bordering on the hamlet, as one of the daughters, then nine years old, tended her father's sheep within walking distance of the Public Square. She was Maria M. Mather, eventually Mrs. Sprague Perkins, and with her husband became an early .settler of Saginaw, Mich. Their son Sanford Perkins was a well-known citizen of that place, filling several important positions of public trust.
The Mather family remained in Cleveland for some years; how many cannot be learned, nor whether the parents died here or moved away. The little girl that tended sheep lived to be nearly 90 years of age, physically active and mentally bright until the last. She was grandmother of Mrs. Ashley Ames, Jr., of Miles Ave.
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1820
POPULATION, 150*
TOWN OFFICERS
President, Horace Perry.
Treasurer, A. W. Walworth.
Trustees, Wileman White, Walworth, Irad Kelly.
Marshal, Harvey Wellman.
Collector of Customs, Ashbel Wal
Postmaster, Irad Kelly. worth.
Recorder, Samuel Cowles.
COUNTY OFFICERS
Sheriff, Seth Doan.
Recorder, Horace Perry.
Prosecuting Attorney, Alfred Kelly.
Surveyor, S. S. Baldwin.
Treasurer, Daniel Kelly.
* More than doubled in past two years.
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PAGE 240 STREET MAP
1820
SPANGLER
Michael Spangler of York Co., Pennsylvania, married Elisabeth Miller who was born in Maryland in the last decade of the eighteenth century.
They removed to Canton, Ohio, where they lived for a time and then, concluding to make another change of residence, in 1820 with their family of little children they started for Cleveland. They suffered many hardships in their travels through forests, and fording or riding on dangerous rivers.
Mr. Spangler bought the tavern on the north side of Superior Street formerly owned by- George Wallace, and called the Commercial House. This they kept for many years. The Miller Block now occupies the site. He afterward purchased a farm of John Shenfelt, and left the tavern in order to live on and cultivate it. Here he died in 1836. The farm-house still stands on the corner of East Madison and Hough avenues, and is occupied by their grandson.*
Mr. and Mrs. Spangler were the first couple in Cleveland that could speak the German language, and that nationality has reason to be proud of the fact, for they were fine people in very way, greatly admired and thoroughly respected.
Mrs. Spangler was a helpmate in laying the foundation of their future prosperity. She was a capable manager, a skilled cook, and her cordial smile and warm welcome to the stranger, or frequent guest, made the small tavern a popular shelter for those who needed a transient home.
She drew a pension after Mr. Spangler's death for services he rendered his country during the War of 1812. She died in 1880, at the age of 91, having outlived her husband for forty-four years.
The children of Michael and Elisabeth Miller:
Margaret Spangler, m. Joseph K.,
Miller, son of William and Hannah Miller.
Miller M. Spangler, m. Deborah Potts.
Catherine Spangler, m. William Lemen of England..
Basil Spangler, m. Julia Stedman, and secondly, Matilda McCarg
Mary Spangler, m. Thomas Lemen, daughter of Buckley Stedman brother of William. They both died young, leaving a little daughter who became Mrs. John Underner
Harriet Spangler, unmarried.
Margaret Spangler was married in 1826, and like her mother, was destined to live many years a widow, for her husband died in 1840, and she outlived him 51 years. Their residence was on Bank Street, corner of Frankfort Street.
It was said of Mrs. Miller at her death in 1891 that "she was a woman of many admirable traits of character," and that- "she ended her long and active life replete with many acts of benevolence and charity."
The children of Joseph and Margaret Miller:
Mary Miller, m. Edwin Rouse
James Miller, m. Sophia Hensch.
Henry Miller.
William L. Miller, m. Augusta Petingill.
* Demolished in 1913.
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1820
SPANGLER
Miller M. Spangler was an active man through his long life, most of which was spent on the farm with his mother. He was chief of one of the voluntary fire companies that did such valuable service to the city before the present system was established. He was sheriff for many years, and did his duty most fearlessly. In later life he was a maltster doing a large business. He married, in 1839, Miss Deborah Ann Potts. She was the daughter of Samuel Potts of Ontario, Canada, and Mary Dockstader Potts.
Mrs. Miller Spangler was the niece of Nicholas, Richard, and Butler Dockstader, early residents of the town.: She died in 1896, at the farmhouse, corner of East Madison and Hough Aves., where she had lived many years of her married life.
They had but one child, George Spangler, who continued to live in the old homestead. He married Miss Ella Kinney, daughter of Alonzo and Eliza Sharp Kinney of Wynantskill, N. Y., and has two sons, Kinney and George Spangler.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller Spangler adopted a little girl whose parents were lost on Lake Erie. She continued to live with them until after their death.
This farm, which cost but $2,000 when purchased by the Spanglers, is at the present time worth a fortune. It was divided among the children. Spangler Ave. was named for the family.
Catherine Spangler married William Lemen in 1827. They lived on the south-east corner of the Public Square, now the site of the Cuyahoga Building, in a beautiful cottage, a famous landmark for many years. It was built of stone, was sixty feet wide, and one story high. The roof extended over the front its entire width, and was supported by eight stone columns. These were preserved when the cottage was torn down in 1854, and were used in the erection of a Grecian temple now on the family lot in Lake View Cemetery.
Mrs. Lemen lived in the "Stone Cottage" for twenty-five years. She entertained frequently, and had a large circle of friends who loved her. She was a life-long member of Trinity Church. She died in 1884, having. outlived her husband 32 years. The homestead site was leased to James Parmalee in 1889 for a term of 99 years.
The children of William and Catherine Spangler Lemen:
Anna Lemen, m. William H. Sholl.
Catherine Lemen, m. George Howe ; died in 1912. D. S. P.
Mary Lemen, m. Walter Morrison of Columbus. She died 1892.
Basil Spangler was a merchant. He also served in the volunteer fire department, and was one of the three men who composed the first board of water commissioners of the city.
Harriet Spangler, the youngest child of the pioneers, was considered a great beauty in her youth, and attracted much attention. An old lady told the writer that at an early day, while stopping at a wayside inn near Akron, she met Mr. Spangler and his daughter Harriet, who were on their way to or from Akron, and remained for the night at the same
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inn. The house was full of guests and the two young women were compelled to occupy the same room.
"I never before nor since saw such beautiful arms and neck as she possessed. They were dazzling white, and so prettily shaped."
To those who knew Harriet Spangler only in her eccentric and unattractive old age, this would seem incredible. But when living in the Spangler tavern in the '30s, she was known by the traveling public as "The Dutch beauty." She never married, but lived many years on a large, inherited property, corner of Euclid and Spangler avenues.
The Lemen brothers, William and Thomas, must have come to Cleveland before 1827. They seemed to be very popular young men, and often were alluded to in old letters in terms of respect or affection. Thomas Lemen belonged to the volunteer department, and was captain of one of its companies. He died in 1851, and William in 1852. They left daughters, but no sons. Mrs. Catherine Underner, wife of Prof. John Underner, is the only living member of that generation. She is living in Zanesville, Ohio.
1820
MARKS
Four young men started together in 1820 on a journey from Milford, Conn., to Cleveland, each intent upon buying land in the Ohio wilderness, clearing it off into a farm, and establishing thereon a home. They were Nehemiah Marks, Wilson Bennet, Richard Treat, and Victor Clark. Only the first-named selected this locality, the others settling outside the township. Upon reaching Cleveland, they first hunted up a former Milford neighbor who had preceded them and built a log-house on the present site of Calvary Cemetery, and was keeping bachelor's hall until the arrival of his family from the east. Thomas Ross welcomed the weary travelers, and entertained them until they could decide upon their future movements.
Nehemiah Marks hesitated between two 100-acre tracts of land offered for sale. One was in the vicinity of the present market-house and between Broadway and the river-valley, at three dollars an acre. The soil seemed poor, the timber on it of inferior quality, so he chose the other one, on Broadway but miles eastward, at five dollars an acre. Had he selected the 100 acres at the junction of Woodland and Broadway, and held it, leasing it for long terms as it developed, today no prudent descendant of Nehemiah Marks would be without a comfortable income.
In 1822, Mr. Marks married Clarissa Parmeter. The ceremony was performed by Theodore Miles in the Miles homestead, now the Turney residence. She was the daughter of William and Lorana Meigs Parmeter of Rutland, Vt. She had been a school-teacher in her native state.
Miss Parmater received an unexpected offer one day from a neighbor who was about to start for Ohio. He told her that she might accompany them, if she wished, free of expense, if she would drive a one-horse wagon for them all the way. But she must be at his house the next morning before sunrise, all ready to start.
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This was short notice for such an important change in her life, and to go on such a long journey. She was equal to the occasion, however, and hurriedly disposing of her household goods, collecting money due her for teaching, paying a few debts, and preparing her wardrobe, she was on hand the next morning at the appointed time.
Soon after her arrival in Newburgh, she began teaching near where the State Hospital now stands. In 1822 she married Nehemiah Marks, and began housekeeping the next day in a log-house where they lived together 54 years. They had four daughters, and two sons. She died in 1876, as dies the Christian, in a full faith of another and better life.
Nehemiah Marks went back to Connecticut in 1821. Except a ride of 26 miles, he walked all the way. It is claimed that it took but 13 days to accomplish the journey. When he returned to Ohio he drove an ox-team, a horse and wagon, his sister Content Marks accompanying him.
When the Marks log-cabin was raised, a big crowd of neighbors and friends turned out to give a helping hand. Mr. Marks preserved a list of these. It is still cherished by his son, and it is interesting to note how many names of well-known Newburgh pioneers it contains. Mr. and Mrs. Marks once entertained a guest who became a national celebrity. The summer of 1845 was marked by a disastrous drouth. Consequently, there was a scant hay-crop, and scarcely grain enough to seed the following year's corn and wheat-fields. Hay was $20 a ton, and cows could be bought for three dollars each.
December 10th, a tall man wearing a plug hat and swallow-tailed coat appeared at the Marks cabin. He was driving a flock of 104 sheep. Mr. Marks recognized him as John Brown, living in a county south of this one, and a dealer in stock.
"You must put me up, Mr. Marks," he exclaimed. "Now don't say `No.' My sheep are wet and starving. I have come from Buffalo on a steamer, and the waves washed over the decks and into the hold, soaking my sheep through to the skin. I drove them all the way on foot from Connecticut to Buffalo, and from the river here. You must take us in, Mr. Marks. Now don't say 'No,'" he repeated.
He was entertained, and his sheep fed and sheltered for the night. Mr. Brown was asked if he would share a bed with one of the youngsters of the household, and readily acquiesced. The son who had the honor of sleeping with "John Brown, whose soul is marching on," was Nehemiah Marks, Jr., still living at the age of 79.
The children of Nehemiah and Clarissa Marks:
Mary Louisa Marks, b. 1823; m. Jacob Flick..
LaFayette Marks, b. 1825; m. Jane Osborn.
Caroline Marks, b. 1826; m. Aaron.Palmer.
Marilla Marks, b. 1828; m. Harlow E. Faulk
Rosetta Marks, b. 1831; m. 1st, Charles E. Chamberlain ; 2nd, Addison Halladay
Nehemiah Marks, Jr., b. 1833; m. Maria Wells.
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Nehemiah Marks, Sr., was the youngest son of Abraham and Content Merwin Marks. His mother was related to the Cleveland Merwins, early pioneers of the village. Mr. Marks died in 1879, and his wife Clarissa Parmater Marks in 1876.
Nehemiah Marks, Jr., possesses an old flint-musket that has been in his family for 157 years, perhaps longer. It was used by three generations in three wars, father, son, and grandson, in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Mr. Marks' grandfather, William Parmater, and his two brothers, John and Joshua Parmater, were also in the Revolutionary War.
1820
PRITCHARD
Jared and Anna Baird Pritchard living in East Cleveland had three daughters and a son, all of whom married into prominent pioneer families of the town.
Anna Pritchard, m. Horace Gun..
Sally Pritchard, m. Samuel Potter, removed to Medina.
Baird Pritchard, m. Julia Pardee
Polly Pritchard, m. Timothy Doan.
Mrs. Julia Pardee Pritchard was born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1796, came to Cleveland in 1832. She became a widow early, and lived many years No. 97 St. Clair street, supporting her family through a boardinghouse. She was a fervent Methodist, and much beloved in that society when its only church edifice stood on St. Clair street, corner of Wood. She came to be well known as "Mother" Pritchard. She died 1874.
The children of Baird and Julia Pritchard:
Anna Pritchard, m. Capt. Stanard.
(There was a steamboat captain living here in 1845, Capt. C. C. Stanard. )
Harriet Pritchard.
Marcus A. Pritchard, a sailor
1820
TITUS
There were two brothers and a sister by the name of Titus living in Newburgh at an early day, Stephen, James, and Phebe Titus. Stephen married Cynthia Hubbard, daughter of Aaron Hubbard, who came to Newburgh in 1820.
She was an intelligent, kind woman, an exceedingly interesting correspondent. They removed to Brandon, Wis., and her children used to
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beg the privilege of reading her letters to the relatives in Newburgh and elsewhere before they were mailed, for they often contained news items which had escaped their own observation.
Two of her children married into the Ely family of Deerfield, O., Mary Titus to Hanson Ely, and Giles Titus to Mary Ely. Eliza Titus married James Reeves and died in Wisconsin. Louise Titus married twice, 1st to William Hubbard, 2nd to a Mr. Millard ; removed to Marquette, Mich. Melissa Titus married Edward Stickle, and removed to Dakota. Phebe Titus remained single.
Giles Titus, Hanson Ely, and their wives died in Iowa; aged people.
James Titus, brother of Stephen, married Philena White, who also came to Newburgh in 1820. They lived on Kinsman street and raised a family of children, Mary, Eliza, Sarah, Henrietta and John Titus. Henrietta was blind all her life. John married a Miss Foot, and removed to Wellington, Ohio.
Phebe Titus, the sister of Stephen and James, married Peter Wilsie. She had three sons, Stephen, Reuben, and Wilkeson Wilsie, all of whom, if yet living, would be very old men. The family all moved to some western state.
1820
WEDDELL
Only two generations, covering a period of 94 years, bridge the arrival of a noted Cleveland pioneer and today.
Peter Martin Weddell came here in 1820, aged 32 years. Horace Weddell, his only living son, walks the streets of Cleveland in 1914, erect, alert, his bearing suggesting many more years of life before him.
Peter M. Weddell came from Pennsylvania, a state that furnished the Spanglers, and other valuable recruits to Cleveland's early citizenship. His father died before he was born, and after the second marriage of his mother, she took him with her to live in Kentucky. Either the stepfather was poor, or personally objectionable, for Peter was only 14 years old when he started out to earn his own living. His first. employment as clerk in a store, so demonstrated his faithfulness and usefulness that he was taken into partnership with his employer, doubtless without furnishing any capital.
During the War of 1812, and when in his '20s, he made a venture of fortune by investing in a store in Newark, Ohio. Thither came Sophia Lenora Perry, eldest daughter of Nathan Perry, Jr., a Cleveland pioneer. Hull's surrender had caused great excitement and fear all along the south shore of Lake Erie. It was possible that the British troops and Indians might swoop down upon the settlers any time. Many families fled in a body, or sent some of the younger members to points farther south.
Mrs. Robert Gilmore, a sister of Mrs. Nathan Perry, Jr., resided in Newark, and Miss Sophia was dispatched to her for safe keeping. Here she met Mr. Weddell, and though very young, barely 16 years, married
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him in 1815. Five years later they removed to Cleveland, doubtless for Mrs. Weddell's sake, that she might be near her mother, for Newark, at that time, was far more prosperous than this town, and from a business stand-point, had greater possibilities.
The store and dwelling of Nathan Perry was on the corner of Superior and Water streets, and the Weddells first lived in a small house east of it. In 1821, Mr. Weddell bought the lot where the east end of the Rockefeller Building now stands. It belonged originally to David Clark who died on Water Street in 1806. Uncle Abram Hickox's blacksmith shop had previously occupied the lot, and this was then removed to the other side of the street near Seneca, now West 3rd. Mr. Weddell built a brick store on the corner, and over this the family lived for a year or two.
Peter M. and Sophia L. Weddell had four children:
Laura and Caroline Weddell, died young.
Peter P. Weddell, b. 1817; died 1839, aged 22 years. Tinerman
Horace Weddell, b. 1823, married 1st, Mary Webster, daughter of Benjamin Webster; 2nd, Mary
The life of Mrs. Sophia Perry Weddell was brief. She died in 1823 when only 23 years of age, and was buried in the Perry lot in old Erie Street Cemetery.
A portrait of her, painted by the famous artist, Rembrant Peale, is a treasured possession of her son, Horace Weddell. The features of this portrait are beautiful and expressive.
A year after his wife's death, Mr. Weddell married 2nd, Mrs. Eliza Owen Bell, a charming young widow, the daughter of Noah and Elisabeth Gilmore Owens of Coimens on the Hudson River, who removed to Newark, Ohio, early in the '20s. Eliza Owen married David Bell who died a year or two afterward. His widow came to Cleveland on a visit and married Mr. Weddell.
She was a noble Christian woman, gentle and sympathetic. She was a sweet singer, and her voice gave unusual pleasure because so few women of that day were musical. She was also a kind neighbor, and in a quiet way, very charitable.
The son of a pioneer related to the writer one instance of this kind. His father lost everything in a financial panic, and the following winter was unable to provide sufficient support for his family. One day, there was nothing in the house to eat, and the husband and father was frantic with anxiety and self-reproach. At twilight that evening, a basket filled with delicious food of various kinds was found at the door, and every week after that until times became easier, Mrs. Weddell, who was the secret donor, divided her baking with them, besides sending groceries from her husband's store. The relater's eyes filled with tears as he recalled the story of a family's distress and of neighborly kindness.
Mrs. Eliza Weddell was better known than her predecessor, because she lived longer, and at a later day. The life of the first young wife was so brief in Cleveland that probably no one living recalls her. Mrs. Eliza
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Weddell was a true mother to Mrs. Sophia Weddell's children, the only ones in the homestead, as the former had none of her own.
About the time of his second marriage, Mr. Weddell built a two-story wing on the west side of his store as a residence. The store was on the corner and on a line with the sidewalk, the residence part set back from the street. It had a nice front porch, and a walk led to the entrance through a pretty flower-garden, Mrs. Weddell's pride, and which received her daily care.
She lived in this Superior street home 20 years. Meanwhile, Mr. Weddell had purchased several acres of land on the north side of Euclid Avenue, beyond Nathan Perry's residence, upon which he built a spacious stone cottage, which by additions in after years, became delightfully rambling and picturesque. To this he retired, leaving his business in the care of his partner, Dudley Baldwin. In 1845, the store and adjoining dwelling were demolished, and a large hotel, the finest in the west, was built on the site, and called the "Weddell House," a conspicuous landmark of the city for 60 years. When finished, Mr. Weddell went to New York City to purchase its furniture, and became ill there of typhoid fever. He hastened home, to die three weeks later.
Peter M. Weddell was the first treasurer of the Old Stone Church. He left behind him a reputation for kindliness and helpfulness, especially toward young men struggling to get a foothold in business for themselves. Mrs. Eliza Owen Weddell died in 1886, having survived her husband nearly 40 years. They both rest in Erie Street Cemetery.
The children of Horace and Mary Webster Weddell::
Laurance Weddell, m. Miss Everett dau. of Sylvester Everett.
Frank Weddell, m. Miss Webber.
Mabel Weddell, unmarried.
Children of Horace and Mary T. Weddell:
Frederick