Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/121

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��day, tlie first surveying party landed at the mouth of this creek, and, on its eastern bank, near the lake shore, in tin cups, pledged — as they drank the limpid waters of the lake — their country's welfare, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling-pieces, discharging the required national salute.

The whole party, on this occasion, numbered fifty-two persons, of whom two were females (Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn) and a child, and all deserve a lasting place in the history of the State.

The next day, they began the erection of a large log building on the sandy beach on the east side of the stream. When done, it was named " Stow Castle," after one of the party. It was the dwell- ing, storehouse and general habitation of all the pioneers. The party made this their headquar- ters part of the summer, and continued busily engaged in the survey of the Reserve. James Kingsbury, afterward Judge, arrived soon after the party began work, and, with his family, was the first to remain here during the winter follow- ing, the rest returning to the East, or going south- ward. Through the winter, Mr. Kingsbury's family suffered greatly for provisions, so much so, that, during the absence of the head of the family in New York for provisions, one child, born in his absence, died, and the mother, reduced by her suf- ferings and solitude, was only saved by the timely arrival of the husband and father with a sack of flour he had carried, many weary miles, on his back. He remained here but a short time, re- moving to Cleveland, which was laid out that same fall. In the spring of 1798, Alexander Harper, William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, started from Ilarpersfield, Delaware Co., N. Y., and arrived the last of June, at their new homes in the Far West. The whole population on the Reserve then amounted to less than one hun- dred and fifty persons. These were at Cleveland, Youngstown and at Mentor. During the summer, three families came to Burton, and Judge Hudson settled at Hudson. All these pioneers suffered severely for food, and from the fever induced by chills. It took several years to become accli- mated. Sometimes the entire neighborhood would be down, and only one or two, who could wait on the rest "between chills," were able to do anything. Time and courage overcame, finally.

It was not until 1798, that a permanent settle- ment was made at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. Those who came there in 1796 went on with their surveys, part remaining in Cleveland, laid out that

��summer. Judge Kingsbury could not remain at Conneaut, and went nearer the settlements made about the Cuyahoga. In the spring of 1798, Thomas Montgomery and Aaron Wright settled here and remained. Up the stream they found some thirty Indian cabins, or huts, in a good state of preserva- tion, which they occupied until they could erect their own. Soon after, they were joined by others, and, in a year or two, the settlement was permanent and prosperous.

The site of the present town of Austinburg in Ashtabula County was settled in the year 1799, by two families from Connecticut, who were in- duced to come thither, by Judge Austin. The Judge preceded them a short time, driving, in company with a hired man. some cattle about one hundred and fifty miles through the woods, follow- ing an old Indian trail, while the rest of the party came in a boat across the lake. When they ar- rived, there were a few families at Harpersburg ; one or two families at Windsor, twenty miles southwest; also a few families at Elk Creek, forty miles northeast, and at Vernon, the same distance southeast. All these were in a destitute condition for provisions. In 1800, another fiimily moved from Norfolk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, sev- eral families came from the same place. Part came by land, and part by water. During that season, wheat was carried to an old mill on Elk Creek, forty miles away, and in some instances, half was given for carrying it to mill and returning it in flour.

Wednesday, October 21, 1801, a church of six- teen members was constituted in Austinburg. This was the first church on the Reserve, and was founded by Rev. Joseph Badger, the first mission- ary there. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 1802, Mr. Badger moved his family fi-om Buffalo to this town, in the first wagon that ever came from that place to the Reserve. In 1803, noted revivals occurred in this part of the West, attended by the peculiar bodily phenomenon known as the " shakes " or "jerks."

The surveying party which landed at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, July. 4, 1796, soon completed their labors in this part of the Reserve, and ex- tended them westward. By the first of September, they had explored the lake coast as far west as the outlet of the Cuyahoga* River, then considered

��* Cuyahoga, in the Indian language, signifies "crooked." — Uowe^H CoUectione.

"The Indians called the river 'Cuyahoghan-uk,' 'Lake River' It 18, emphatically, a Lake river. It rises in lakes and empties into a lake." — Atwater's Iliilory of Ohio.

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