OH-FOOTSTEPS-L Archives

From: "Ohio Archives EV1" <>
Subject: Fw: Tid Bits of Ohio -- Part 1.
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 23:15:31 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 1:31 AM
Subject: Tid Bits of Ohio -- Part 1.



File contributed for use in
USGenWeb Archives by
Darlene E. Kelley

Jan. 24, 2005.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Historical Collections of Ohio
And Then They Went West
Series of Articles;
Tid Bits of S.L. Kelly
by Darlene E. Kelley.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tid Bits of Ohio are small articles of what made up some of the most
interesting facts of our beautiful society. They are the backbone of
Cleveland and its surrounding areas, which today make interesting
reading. Perhaps boring to some, others may find them interesting and
informative.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Charles Dicken's Visits Cleveland.

Charles Dicken's visit to Cleveland was part of a tour to the U.S. in
1842. The English novelist, his wife, and a traveling friend, Mr.
Putman, arrived in our fair parts, arriving just after midnight on
Monday, the 25th of April. Traveling on the steamboat " Constitution "
and having a rough voyage across Lake Erie from Sandusky, it did not
prove to be a particularly successful stopover.

It seems that while in Sandusky, Mr. Dickens had read a newspaper
article appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, to which he took
exception because of its chauvinistic bombast toward England.
Evidentently failing to realize that the piece was merely a reprint from
another newspaper, Dickens's ire had not abated upon his arrival in
Cleveland. Although in his report, he described the town in glowing
terms " a beautiful town " he felt
that his reception left much to be desired.

Upon returning to the " Constitution " and in his stateroom, after a
walk around our town with Putnam. the Author and his wife were subjected
to curious stares of the local residents, who peered in the windows
trying to get a look at the famous gentlemen. Dickens was so upset by
this unwanted attention, that when mayor, Dr. Joshua Mills, came on
board, the Author refused to speak to him. Undaunted, the mayor moved to
the end of the pier and passed the time whittling, in the futile hope
that Dickens would change his mind.
He sat there until 9 o'clock in the morning, till the " Constitution "
sailed with the stubborn Author, and his party, to Buffalo.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

First Newspaper

Thomas D. Webb, twenty eight, was the editor of the first Newspaper in
the Western Reserve, with the pompous title,
" The Trump of Fame." The first issue appeared on June 9, 1812, in
Warren, which had been his home since 1807, when he arrived from
Windham, Connecticut. The pioneer publication consisted of four small
pages printed from minute type. There was little controversial copy, no
local news, and only scanty editorials. Eastern papers were combed for
material; and although the columns were stale when they reached the
subscriber, they were eagerly welcomed.
Four years later, the editor was able to secure the letters " V " and "
W, " and the paper became know by the dignified title,
" Western Reserve Chronicle." Later it became known as the " Warren
Tribune Chronicle."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Old Cemetery

One of the oldest cemeteries in the Western Reserve is a plot
overlooking the valley of Nine mile Creek. The first grave was made in
1813 for Susannah Barr, wife of the Pastor of the Plan of Union Church,
the Rev. Thomas Barr. Here were buried John Shaw, for whom Shaw High
School was named, Andrew McIlrath, and Enoc Murray, the first Mason to
settle in the Western Reserve.
Soldiers and stout-hearted men and women found a last resting place in
this obscure corner.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Leonard Case, Sr.

The lack of a central bank made it difficult to finance the War of 1812
and the end of the conflict found the country flooded with unsound
currency and its financial system in chaos. Despite arguements of
unconstitutionality, enough support was secured to charter a new
institution for twenty years, and the Second National Bank was
established. Cleveland was to have a branch in the new Commercial Bank
of Lake Erie.

Leonard Case " wrote a good hand and was a good accountant, " and Judge
James Kingsbury recommended that he be brought to Cleveland from Warren,
Ohio, to be cashier of the new bank. Case came in June of 1816, as the
first bank of the village was being organized. His salary was $800
annually.

Case was born July 29, 1786 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the
son of Meshach Case and Magdalene (Eckstein) Case, a poor frontier
farmer. His parents brought their large family to Warren Township in
1800. In 1801, Leonard suffered from extreme outdoor exposure leading to
an illness that left him a cripple and pain in his lifetime. This was,
however, no handicap to his ambition. He served as confidential clerk to
General Simon Perkins, land agent for the Connecticut Land Company in
1807, and studied law in his spare time. During the War of 1812, he
collected delinquent taxes. When Case came to Cleveland, he brought a
valuable knowledge of the Western Reserve gained in the Warren tax
office; and besides serving as cashier of the bank, he practiced law and
dealt in real estate. After the bank failed, Case stayed in Cleveland
practicing law. From 1821-25, as President of the Cleveland village
council, he was responsible for planting shade trees, earning Cleveland
the nickname " Forest City." From 1824-27, he served in the Ohio
legislature, drafting laws taxing land according to their value rather
than size.
He advocated railroads and canals. He was also an investor in the
Cleveland-Columbus-Railroad.

He married Elizabeth Gaylord in Stow, Portage County, in 1817, and in
the late 1840's turned his affairs over to his sons William and Leonard,
Jr. Case gave to many great chartiable organizations, including
Cleveland's first school for the poor, the Cayahoga County Historical
Society, the Cleveland Medical College, and the city's first lyceum for
the arts.
Case died in Cleveland and was buried in Lake View Cemetery.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edison Family

John Edison, the great-grandfather of the inventor, Thomas A. Edison,
originally settled in New Jersey. Family fortunes fluctuated with the
politics of the times. Like many well-to-do landowners, John Edison
remained a Loyalist during the Revolution. Because of this, he was
imprisoned and was for a time, under sentence of execution, but he was
saved from this fate through the efforts of prominent Whig relatives.
His lands were confiscated, however, and the family migrated to Nova
Scotia. The Edisons remained in Nova Scotia until 1811, when they moved
to Vienna, Ontario. Edison's grandfather, Captain Samuel Edison, served
the British in the war of 1812.

In Ontario, Edison's father, also named Samuel, met and married Nancy
Elliott, a school teacher and daughter of Elenezer Mathews Elliott, who
was a captain in Washington's army. The younger Samuel became involved
in another political struggle-- a much later and unsuccessful Canadian
counterpart of the American Revolution known as the Papineau-MacKenzie
Rebellion. Upon the failure of this rebellion, he was forced to flee
across the border to the United States. After innumerable dangers and
hardships, Samuel finally reached the town of Milan, Ohio, where he
decided to settle. In Milan, Samuel established himself as a manufacture
of roof shingles and sent for Nancy and their five children to join him.

When the Edison family arrived in town to join Samuel, about 1840, Milan
was entering the period of its greatest glory. Due to its location on
the Huron River and the Canal built to link Milan to the Great Lakes,
the town soon became a busy grain port. All sorts of commodities from
every point in the state were conveyed to Milan in long wagon trains,
then loaded abroard ships from warehouses that lined the banks of the
canal.

In 1847, 917,800 bushels of wheat were shipped from this port, making
the second largest wheat shipping port in the world after the Ukranian
city of Odessa. At this time, Milan also became a shipbuilding center,
producing 75 lake schooners in 1847.

By 1850, the advent of the railroads and consequent changes in
transportation methods had put an end to the town's great prosperity.
The canal and the shipyard were eventually abandoned and the warehouses
disappeared. Milan's
" golden age," which had lasted only about ten years, was over-- though
shipments of grain continued until 1865.

The lot on which the Edison house stands was bought in 1841 by Nancy
Elliott Edison, mother of Thomas Alva Edison. Nancy and Samuel Edison
started building their home, designed by Samuel, in the same year.
Thomas Alva Edison was born in this house on February 11, 1847.

Edison's parents sold the house in 1854, and the family moved to Port
Huron, Michigan. ( Note ++ ) [ The birthplace was out of family
ownership for the next forty years. In 1894, Edison's sister, Marion
Edison Page bought the house and added a bathroon and other then modern
conveniences.

Edison became the owner of his birthplace in 1906, and, on his last
visit, he was shocked to find his old home still lighted by lamps and
candles, in spite of all his 1001 patented inventions. ++]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other Tid Bits in part 2.

This thread:

• Fw: Tid Bits of Ohio -- Part 1. by "Ohio Archives EV1" <>