by that of Judge Griswold, whose destination was Windsor. They came
on the ice from Buffalo, arriving only the day before the breaking up
of the ice left the lake clear as far as the eye could reach. In the
winter preceding, the whole Western Reserve had been erected into a
county, which was called Trumbull, the part of it comprising Ashtabula
being then included in one township, and called Richfield. In May there
were still further accessions, in consequence of which a scarcity was
experienced of provisions raised the previous year, and designed for
the use of a much smaller number. The settlers were again compelled
to send, in June, to Canada in an open boat, for fresh supplies. In
August, an election was held for the purpose of sending a delegation to
a convention appointed to be held at Chilicothe in the ensuing winter,
for the purpose of taking measures preparatory to the admission of Ohio
as a State into the Union. The winter of 1800-1801, passed without
any remarkable occurrence, the country being healthy and provisions
abundant. In the following June other families were added to the number
of inhabitants, and the summer was signalized by the erection of a
horse-mill, the first built in the country, and the only one for many
miles round, till others were built in Austinburgh. The sufferings of
the settlers from scarcity of food and other privations were now over,
the advance of improvement developing the resources of the country and
the farmers were able to enlarge their cleared lands, and cultivate
the soil to better advantage. Their friends from the East continued to
join them, and Mrs. Harper had the satisfaction of seeing her elder
children settled around her. In 1802, a school was established in the
settlement; supposed to be the first on the Reserve. The scholars
came from the distance of two miles and a half, and as the reputation
of the institution extended, they were sent from Windsor and Burton,
twenty and thirty miles distant. The same year regular meetings were
established by the “Lovers of Good Order,” and the year following saw
numerous accessions.
In about three years after the commencement of the settlement, the
Indians began to visit them periodically. They were chiefly Ojibways,
and belonged to Lake Superior in the summer, but came down every fall
in their bark canoes, and landing at the mouth of the streams, carried
their canoes on their heads across the portage to Grand River, seven
miles from the lake, where they took up their quarters for the winter,
returning west in the spring. They manifested a friendly disposition
towards the white men, and as the pioneers gave them assistance in
sickness and destitution, they endeavored to show their gratitude by
bringing them portions of such large game as they killed. Many a choice
piece of bear’s or elk’s meat, carefully wrapped in a blanket, has
Mrs. Harper received from her savage friends. One day she saw a party
of drunken Indians coming towards her house when the men were absent;
and she had just time to conceal a small keg of liquor under the floor
before they came in, demanding whiskey. They were told they could not
have any, but insisting that they would, they commenced a search for
it, and finding a barrel of vinegar, asked if that would “make drunk
come,” as if so, they would take it. Finding it not the right sort of
stuff, they insisted, before leaving the house, on treating the women
from a calabash of muddy whiskey which they carried with them.
During all the privations, trials and sufferings which Mrs. Harper was
compelled to undergo, she was never known to yield to despondency, but
with untiring energy exerted herself to encourage all within the sphere
of her influence, teaching them to bear up against misfortune, and make
the best of the home where their lot was cast. Her own family knew not,
until the hardships of pioneer life had been overcome, how much she
had endured--how many hours of anxiety and sleepless nights she had
passed in the days of darkness and disaster. She found her reward in
the affection and usefulness of her children, several of whom filled
important stations in their adopted State. During the war of 1812, the
country was exposed to all the dangers of a frontier, liable, on every
reverse of the American arms, to be overrun by hostile Indians. In time
of danger, Mrs. Harper’s advice was always eagerly sought, as one whose
experience qualified her to decide on the best course in any emergency.
Her grand-daughter well remembers seeing her one day engaged at the
house of her son-in-law in showing a company of volunteers how to make
cartridges.
Her life was prolonged to her eighty-fifth year, and she died on the
11th of June, 1833, retaining unimpaired until her last illness the
characteristic strength of her remarkable mind.
* * * * *
“In May, 1799, Joel and Sarah Thorp moved with an ox-team from North
Haven, Connecticut, to Millsford, in Ashtabula county, and were the
first settlers in that region. They soon had a small clearing on and
about an old beaver dam, which was very rich and mellow. Towards
the first of June, the family being short of provisions, Mr. Thorp
started off alone to procure some through the wilderness, with no
guide but a pocket compass, to the nearest settlement, about twenty
miles distant, in Pennsylvania. His family, consisting of Mrs. Thorp
and three children--the oldest child, Basil, being but eight years of
age--were before his return reduced to extremities for the want of
food. They were compelled to dig for and in a measure subsist on roots,
which yielded but little nourishment. The children in vain asked food,
promising to be satisfied with the least possible portion. The boy
Basil remembered to have seen some kernels of corn in a crack of one of
the logs of the cabin, and passed hours in an unsuccessful search for
them. Mrs. Thorp emptied the straw out of her bed, and picked it over
to obtain the little wheat it contained, which she boiled and gave to
her children. Her husband, it seems, had taught her to shoot at a mark,
in which she acquired great skill. When all her means for procuring
food were exhausted, she saw, as she stood in her cabin door, a wild
turkey flying near. She took down her husband’s rifle, and on looking
for ammunition, was surprised to find only sufficient for a small
charge. Carefully cleaning the barrel, so as not to lose any by its
sticking to the sides as it went down, she set some apart for priming
and loaded the piece with the remainder, and started in pursuit of the
turkey, reflecting that on her success depended the lives of herself
and children. Under the excitement of her feelings she came near
defeating her object, by frightening the turkey, which flew a short
distance and again alighted in a potatoe patch. Upon this, she returned
to the house and waited until the fowl had begun to wallow in the
loose earth. On her second approach, she acted with great caution and
coolness, creeping slily on her hands and knees from log to log, until
she had gained the last obstruction between herself and the desired
object. It was now a trying moment, and a crowd of emotions passed
through her mind as she lifted the rifle to a level with her eye. She
fired; the result was fortunate; the turkey was killed, and herself
and family preserved from death by her skill. Mrs. Thorp married three
times. Her first husband was killed in Canada in the war of 1812; her
second was supposed to have been murdered. Her last husband’s name was
Gardiner. She died in Orange, in Cuyahoga county, Nov. 1st, 1846.”[29]
* * * * *
The first surveying party of the Western Reserve landed at the mouth
of Conneaut Creek, on the 4th of July, 1796. One of the company
says--“We celebrated the day in the usual manner, so far as our means
enabled us, by drinking patriotic toasts of pure lake water from
tin cups, and firing the usual number of salutes from two or three
fowling-pieces.”[30] The party numbered fifty two persons, including
two women, Mrs. Gunn and Mrs. Stiles. The next day the laborers
commenced building a house as the dwelling-place of the families and
storehouse of their provisions. In their exploration the surveyors
discovered a fine bee tree. “We encamped, cut down the tree, and ate
to our satisfaction, each man filling his canteen; and the residue was
put into the bags of flour. Except for two or three days, while our
honey lasted, we lived on bread alone. On our arrival at the lake we
took the beach, and went east to our camp at Conneaut; and what was
remarkable, on our way we fell in with all three of the parties, who
had each finished their lines and joined ours. During our absence the
house had been completed, and Gen. Cleveland[31] had assembled there
a small tribe of Indians residing a few miles up Conneaut Creek, had
held a council with them, made them some presents, and established a
friendly intercourse. The General had furnished himself with an Indian
dress, and being of swarthy complexion, afforded an excellent likeness
of an Indian chief, and was thereafter known in the party by the name
of Pagua, the name of the chief of the tribe referred to.”
The first permanent settlement was not commenced till two years
afterwards. One of the early settlers, on his return from Erie, with
corn, along the ice on the lake shore, fell into an “ice hole” some
distance from the land, and after spending some time in vain efforts
to extricate his horse, took the meal, saddle and bridle upon his
shoulders, and made for the shore, with his clothes frozen stiff
upon him. On the beach he kindled a fire, and after partially drying
himself, proceeded on his journey. Some time after nightfall he came
to a stream on the west bank of which stood an empty cabin; to reach
this and spend the night was his desire, but with the stream he was
unacquainted. He built a large fire, and by the light of it ventured to
ford it with his load; fortunately the water was only about five feet
deep, and after much danger and difficulty he succeeded in reaching the
cabin, where, by building a fire, and running about to keep himself
awake, he spent the night. The next day at night he reached home,
almost exhausted by his load and want of food.
In the year 1798, small settlements, few and far between, sprinkled
the Reserve, and a small illbuilt schooner constituted the American
fleet on Lake Erie. Subsequently the Indian title to that part of the
Reserve lying west of the Cuyahoga, was extinguished, and the lands
were brought into market. An apology for a grist-mill had been erected
near Cleveland, which had no competitor within a hundred miles, and
gave general satisfaction, as few had any thing to grind. Five or six
log cabins had been built in what was called “the city of Cleveland.”
Capt. Edward Paine made the first sleigh-track through the wilderness
from Cataraugus to Erie, accompanied by his wife, her sister, and
a female cousin, and encamped two nights in the snow. In the fall,
business obliged James Kingsbury, the father of one of the families at
Conneaut--the first, it is said, that wintered on the Reserve--to go
to Connecticut; and it was the middle of November before he arrived at
Buffalo on his return. The snow had fallen to the depth of two and a
half feet, and the weather was extremely cold.
“From this point Mr. Kingsbury must leave the habitation of the white
man, and make his way through a wilderness, one hundred and thirty
miles, with no road to guide him except for a part of that distance
the beach of the lake. He was sensible of the condition in which he
had left his family; that they had but a scanty supply of provisions,
and that his absence had already been longer than was expected. These
circumstances, with the setting in of a winter so severe, filled his
mind with the painful apprehension that his family might be suffering
starvation. Having provided himself with such necessaries as he could
procure, with which he loaded his horse, he set forth on foot, and
leading his horse, pursued the beach of the lake. After a fatiguing
march through the snow, he reached the Indian settlement on the
Cataraugus. As from this place, on account of the bold projecting
bluffs, he could no longer follow the beach, he procured an Indian, by
the name of Seneca Billy, to guide him through the trackless forest,
and took his course through the woods, leading his horse as before
mentioned. In this manner he toiled through the deep snow, camping each
night in the midst of it, for several days, when he reached Presqu’
Isle. With much difficulty he was able at this place to procure a bag
of corn, for which he paid three dollars a bushel. Here he dismissed
his Indian guide, and again took to the lake, travelling upon the ice.
He had proceeded in this manner as far as the fire spring, near the
mouth of Elk Creek, when his horse broke through the ice, and though he
extricated him, he was so badly injured that he was obliged to leave
him; and taking the bag of corn upon his own back, he reached his home,
but not such a home as could afford him consolation after his excessive
toil and suffering. He found a family perishing for want of food. His
wife had given birth to a child, not only without any of those comforts
which in such cases are usually deemed indispensable, but destitute of
even the coarsest food, herself and family being in nearly a famishing
state. The father soon after his arrival was doomed to see the child
expire of starvation.
“The infant was, I believe, the first white child born on the Reserve.
Some three or four months afterwards, Mrs. Stiles, of Cleveland,
presented her husband with one more fortunate, not only as to life,
but the means of sustaining it; to wit--a donation of land by the
Company--at least so said rumor.
“As the supply which Kingsbury had brought would last but a short time,
it became necessary that he should procure more. The Connecticut Land
Company had stored the provisions for the use of their surveyors at
Cleveland, and Kingsbury knew that of this some barrels of salt beef
still remained. Having lost his horse, as before mentioned, and being
destitute of any other, it was fortunate that the severity of the
season, which had contributed to the suffering of his family by making
the ice excellent, facilitated at this time the means of supplying
their wants. Taking advantage of this, he went to Cleveland, (seventy
miles) and procuring one of the barrels of beef, drew it home upon
the ice on a hand-sled, in which he was assisted by a man then at
Cleveland. When they arrived they found the first shanty erected by the
Company, occupied by Capt. Hodge and family.”
The wife of Hon. John Walworth, one of the earliest settlers of Lake
County, shared with him all the toils and privations attendant upon a
settlement in the wilderness. An old pioneer writes of her, “In our
pioneer days she went hand in hand with her husband in all that was
kind, hospitable, and generous; and to her winning and attractive
manner, and her sprightliness and vivacity, we must in part attribute
the resort to their house of the polished and respectable part of the
community. Twice has that lady travelled from this country to the
furthest part of Connecticut and back, on horseback: I mention this
to show her resolution and perseverance.” Early in 1800, Mr. Walworth
brought his family in a sleigh to Buffalo, where they waited two weeks
for a sleigh to come from Presqu’ Isle, then proceeded on the ice till
they came opposite Cataraugus Creek. Leaving the sleighs and horses
some fifty or sixty roods out, the party went to the shore and encamped
under some hemlock trees, and partook of a repast seasoned with
hilarity and good feeling. The next afternoon all arrived in safety at
Presqu’ Isle, whence Mr. Walworth went back to Buffalo for his goods.
Mr. Walworth’s nearest neighbors east of his new purchase, were at
Harpersfield, fifteen miles distant. His family reached their new home
April 7th, 1800, and lived in a tent for two weeks, during which time
the sun was not seen.[32]
On the 4th July, 1801, the first ball was given in Cleveland, at Major
Carter’s log cabin under the hill. The company consisted of a dozen
ladies and from fifteen to twenty gentlemen. The dancers kept time to
Major Jones’ violin, on the puncheon floor, and occasionally refreshed
themselves with a glass of sling, made of maple sugar and whiskey; and
never was the anniversary celebrated by “a more joyful and harmonious
company, than those who danced the scamperdown, double-shuffle,
western swing, and half-moon” in that unostentatious place of
assemblage.
The first school opened in the town was taught, in 1802, by Miss Anna
Spafford, also in a room of Major Carter’s cabin. This “thorough
pioneer” appears to have been foremost in every advance of improvement.
An incident in which his wife was concerned, showing something of the
spirit of the times, I take from the MSS. referred to:--“In the summer
of 1803, Mrs. Carter observed John Orric and another Indian lad in her
garden, breaking some small fruit trees. Upon her reproving them, young
Orric knocked her down with his war-club and seriously injured her. The
lads fled immediately to the west side of the river to their fathers’
lodges. Several days afterwards, Major Carter, who was on the watch,
observed these lads, with others, amusing themselves with playing ball
and swimming on the beach of the lake. He went there and took the lads
prisoner, secured them with ropes, and took them to the Indian camp
on the side hill, telling them he was going to hang them. Not finding
Orric’s father at the lodge, he released the other lad, and directed
him to go and tell him he had John a prisoner and was going to hang
him for striking his wife. The lad did the errand faithfully, for the
Major soon heard the Indian whoop of alarm, followed speedily by the
war-whoop from the different lodges on the west side of the river.
John’s father soon arrived, much excited, and with all the savageness
of his nature depicted in his face, with his tomahawk uplifted ready
for deadly revenge. He confronted the Major, giving him one of those
fierce, gleaming stares, so significant in the Indian brave; but the
eyes of the Major met his and did not quail. The injured husband and
the enraged father stood and gazed long in silence, each glancing
defiance at the other; at length the eye of the savage turned from the
calm, fearless look of the white hunter, and he enquired the cause of
his son’s capture. Carter told him of John’s assault upon his wife,
and his determination to have him punished. By this time, traders and
other Indians had arrived and proposed to arrange the matter. John’s
father sent him with twenty dollars to give to Mrs. Carter, and ask her
forgiveness for the injury he had done; the Major agreeing to nothing
unless Mrs. Carter was satisfied. Mrs. Carter indignantly refused
the proffered money, and ordered John out of the house; he returned
crestfallen to the council and reported the failure of his mission. By
this time Carter became much enraged, and notwithstanding he was in the
midst of over forty Indians, most of them well armed, it was with great
difficulty he could be prevailed upon not to kill John upon the spot.
After a long parley, however, he agreed that the affair might rest for
the present; but on this condition, that if John was ever caught on the
east side of the Cuyahoga River he should certainly hang him.”
XVI.
ELIZABETH TAPPEN.
Elizabeth Harper was the second daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth
Harper, and was born February 24th, 1784, in Harpersfield, New York.
She was in the fifteenth year of her age when she accompanied her
parents to Ohio, in 1798, and was the oldest daughter who went with
them, her elder sister having been married some years and remaining in
their old home.
The labors and perils of commencing a settlement in an almost unbroken
wilderness, encountered by all who took part in this adventurous
enterprise, were shared without a murmur by the young girl, to whom
fell, of course, no small part of the work of the household and the
care of the younger children. The novelty of their mode of living, and
the wild forest scenery, with incessant occupation, caused the time to
pass speedily and pleasantly through the first summer; but with the
approach of a more rigorous season, their hardships commenced, and the
death of her beloved father brought before the bereaved family the
realities of their situation, far from early friends, and isolated from
the comforts of civilization. Elizabeth suffered much at this time of
gloom and distrust, with a longing for home, and fears for the future;
but the fortitude and resolution with which Mrs. Harper sustained
herself under the pressure of calamity, had a due influence on the
minds of her children, and the feeling of discontent was soon subdued.
During the absence of James, who went to Canada, as mentioned in the
preceding sketch, to procure provisions, another son, William, broke
his leg. The other boys were seven and nine years old, and as they
could do nothing of consequence, the work of providing firewood for use
in the house devolved entirely, for some four weeks, upon Elizabeth and
her younger sister, Mary. It was no easy task to cut, split, and bring
home all the fuel consumed, as the cabin was very open and large fires
were required.
The prospects for the approaching winter were very dark, owing to the
scarcity of provision and the want of comfortable quarters; and Mrs.
Harper thought it best to send her younger daughter to stay with some
friends at a settlement in Pennsylvania. She determined not to accept
the invitation for herself, and Elizabeth decided to stay with her
mother. The winter proved one of unusual severity, and the settlers
suffered greatly from the want of provisions after the wreck of the
only vessel on the southern shore of Lake Erie, their supplies having
to be brought from Canada. Twice the little community was reduced
almost to the point of starvation, having to relieve the cravings
of hunger with strange substitutes for wholesome food. On the last
occasion, when the men sent for supplies returned, they brought with
them a small quantity of coarse Indian meal boiled, which was called
samp. Mrs. Harper warmed a portion of this, and making some tea, called
her family to partake of the simple meal, then a luxury privation had
taught them to appreciate. Most of the children felt sick from absolute
want, and disinclined to touch the food, but after tasting it, they
were so eager for more that it required all the mother’s firmness to
restrain them from taking more than they could bear in so weakened a
state.
It has been mentioned that a quantity of wheat raised in Pennsylvania,
was brought on hand-sleds a distance of fifty miles on the ice to
the settlement, and ground in a small mill belonging to one of the
families. It was Elizabeth’s work to grind that required for her
family. She would take a peck of wheat and walk two miles and a half
to grind it, then carry home the meal and make it into bread. The mill
would grind no more than a bushel of grain in a day when constantly in
use, and three families were to be supplied. The men being occupied
in bringing the wheat and attending to other necessary duties, the
grinding was chiefly done by the women.
Many of the cattle belonging to the settlers died this winter, and
some of the oxen disappeared, supposed to have been killed and carried
off by the Indians. The disaster that caused so much inconvenience the
following season--the breaking of the little mill which had been so
useful, set them upon the invention of a substitute. A hole was burned
and scraped in the top of an oak stump, large enough to hold a quantity
of corn which was then pounded as fine as possible with a pounder
attached to a spring pole resembling a well-sweep, the heavy end being
fastened to the ground. This contrivance was called a mortar. Their
ovens were equally primitive. As neither brick nor stone was to be had,
a stump was hewn perfectly flat on the top, and a slab hewn out and
laid upon it. On this the women spread a layer of clay, and placed upon
it wood heaped up in the form of an oven, covering the whole except a
small opening at one end, with a thick layer of clay. It stood a short
time to dry, and then the wood was set on fire and burned out. The oven
thus manufactured proved an excellent one for use, and served as a
model for all the ovens in the country for some years afterwards.
In the autumn of the second year of the settlement, Mrs. Wheeler, Mrs.
Harper’s eldest daughter, came with her husband and family, and they
took up their residence in a cabin they built half a mile from that of
the widow. They were joined by several other families soon afterwards.
Some anecdotes of their encounters with the wild beasts of the
forest are remembered in family tradition. One summer evening in the
third year, when William Harper was returning about dusk from Judge
Wheeler’s, his attention was arrested by the sight of a bear just in
the path before him, engaged in devouring a hog he had just killed.
William fired at the animal without apparent effect, and was hastily
reloading his gun, when the bear desisted from his meal, and started in
pursuit of the new enemy. Fortunately, a large tree was near at hand,
which the young man ran round, the bear closely following and tearing
off pieces of the bark in his fury. William contrived, while dodging
him, to load his gun, and fired eleven times before the enraged animal
fell to the ground; then, completely exhausted by the efforts he had
made to keep the foe at bay, he hastened homeward, and met his brother,
who alarmed by hearing reports in such rapid succession, had come to
look for him. On going to the spot the next evening, they found the
bear quite dead, with ten of the eleven balls in his body, the tree
being entirely stripped of bark as high as he could reach.