A CENTURY of years ago this country was in the midst of a dire conflict with a powerful foe, waged in behalf of freedom and American independence as against the tyranny of merciless oppression.  At that time the district bordering the southern shore of the western half of lake Erie was a dense forest, inhabited by wild animals and a few scattered and feeble bands of Indians.  In the settled regions along the Atlantic the vaguest notions were then entertained in regard to the country situated upon the borders of Lake Erie.  At about the time of which we speak, in a town in the State of Connecticut, the question was asked in the presence of the number of intelligent men, what lake lay immediately west of Lake Ontario, and there was not a person present who could make answer.  That there was a body of water here was known; but what name it bore, and what its size, its locality, none were able to explain.  It was regarded as a distant, solitary lake, situated far towards the setting sun, and not far removed from the Pacific Ocean.  It was believed to be surrounded with dark forests, and its shores infested with dangerous serpents and ferocious beasts of prey.
     The explorations of the surveyors in 1796 served to dispel many erroneous notions with which the region was unjustly regarded, and in fact, the opposite extreme of believing New Connecticut a veritable garden of Eden, whose natural advantages and beauties were unsurpassed; whose soil was of marvelous fertility; whose forests were magnificent in their beauty, with trees of gigantic growth, among which roamed the deer, the elk, and other animals affording food to man; whose streams of clear water abounded in fish and afforded excellent site for mills, and whose lake was the most beautiful the eyes of man had ever beheld.  In short, it was an enchanted region, to remain away from which evinced the greatest folly.  Such were the representatives of the land company.  In 1798 the settlers began to arrive.  The year 1791 most probably marks the date when the first white man was introduced to the forests of this region, at which time two young men were made prisoners at the defeat of General St. Clair, on the Miami, and were brought by a band of Seneca Indians to the banks of the Conneaut.  A full account of their captivity, of the release of one of them from death by burning by the intercession of  an Indian maid, and their final escape from the clutches of the red men, is given in the history of Conneaut township.  The reader is referred to that history also for a narrative of the Conneaut hermit, - an individual found

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residing here in 1796, when the surveyors arrived, and who had probably lived here some three or four years prior to their coming.  Mr. Kingsbury's temporary residence at the mouth of the Conneaut, during the winter of 1796-97, is also mentioned in the Conneaut history.

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS

     The year 1798 signalizes the arrival of the first permanent colonists within the limits of Ashtabula County.  The eastern half of the Reserve had been surveyed, and partition thereof had been made among the members of the Connecticut land company.  This latter event took place Jan. 29, 1798.  In the preceding year a land company was organized in Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York, and called the Old Harpersfield land company.  The object of its formation was the purchase of lands in the Connecticut Western Reserve.  Its members originally were Alexander Harper, William McFarland, Joseph Harper, Aaron Wheeler, and Roswald Hotchkiss.  Others were subsequently included in it.
     In June of the same year they entered into a contract with Messrs. Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger, of the Connecticut land company, whereby they became possessed of six townships of land in New Connecticut, three of which townships were to lie east and three west of the Cuyahoga river.  In September following a committee of exploration were sent out, who selected the lands. Number eleven of the fifth range was one of the townships chosen, and here it was decided to begin a settlement.  The township was afterwards christened Harpersfield.
     On the 7th day of March, 1798, Alexander Harper, Wm. McFarland, and Ezra Gregory, with their families, started from Harpersfield, New York, for what was to be Harpersfield, Ohio.  The entire number of these emigrants was twenty-five, as follows:
Colonel Alexander Harper and wife; their children, James A. and Wm. A. Harper, Elizabeth and Mary Harper, Alexander Harper, Jr., and Robert Harper; J. Gleason, a hired man; Wm. McFarland and wife; Ephraim Clark; Parthena Mingus, her son William Mingus, and Benjamin Hartwell, an adopted child; Mr. Ezra Gregory and wife, and their children, Eli, Jonathan, Anna, Eleanor, Daniel, Thatcher, Betsey, and Ezra.
     This company embarked in sleighs and came a far as Rome, New York, where they remained until the first of May, and then proceeded in boats to Oswego, and thence to Queenstown, and Fort Erie.  Here they found a small vessel which was employed by the government to transport military stores for troops stationed at the west, and being about to sail up the lake the company took passage.  Reaching the peninsula on the Canada side, opposite to Presque Isle, or Erie, they were obliged to remain at that point an entire week before they could procure boats to take them forward on their journey.  Their landing at the mouth of Cunningham's creek was effected on the 28th day of June.  That night they encamped on the shore of the lake, and the next day Mr. Harper, accompanied by the women and children, started on foot, following the township line from the lake, and arrived at the place of his future home about three o'clock in the afternoon, a distance from the shore of the lake of about four and one-half miles.  The rest of the company having remained behind, to make sleds whereon to transport their goods, and to cut a road for their passage, arrived later in the evening.
     A rude lodge was constructed by driving forked poles into the earth and placing upon them other poles, which latter received the bark and branches of trees, and in this wilderness home the whole company dwelt together for about three weeks.  At the end of this time they had built for themselves log cabins, and families separated.

POPULATION OF THE RESERVE IN 1798.

     At the time of the arrival of these first permanent settlers on Ashtabula soil there were only fifteen other families on the Reserve, - ten of these were at Youngstown, three at Cleveland, and two at Mentor.  Three other families came this same season, and settled in what is now Burton township, Geauga county, and two or three others in Hudson township, Summit county.  Perhaps the number one hundred and twenty-five would include all that were settlers upon the Reserve during the summer and fall of 1798 and the succeeding winter, a little more than one-fifth of which number were located upon the soil of this county.

WHERE THEY LOCATED

     The Harpers and Mr. McFarland settled in the extreme northwestern part of the township, not farm from the present site of Unionville, Harper on lot No. 16, and McFarland near the site of the present Episcopal church; while Mr. Gregory, with his family, settled farther to the southeast, on Grand river, lot No. 90.  In August following their arrival, J. Gleason, the hired man, died, and shortly after Colonel Harper himself was taken sick, and died on  the 10th of September.

SOME HARDSHIPS THESE FIRST PIONEERS ENCOUNTERED.

     In the fall of the year, their stock of provisions growing scarce, the colonists sent two of their number to Canada to procure a new supply.  They placed four barrels of flour on board one vessel, and had previously contracted with the captain of another vessel to transport pork and other provisions up the lake for them.  This latter vessel was wrecked before reaching the port where the supplies were in waiting, and the two men were obliged to return without their greatly needed stock of provisions.  The vessel containing the flour, just before reaching Erie, was driven into a shallow water by a storm, and frozen in, and the flour could not be obtained until the ice should become sufficiently strong to admit of going with sleds to the boat and bringing it to land.
     The delay which these untoward events occasioned was so great that when the two agents of the settlers arrived with the flour, the latter had been without any kind of breadstuff for six weeks, and had subsisted for this time on salt beef and turnips alone.  The flour was used up before the winter had passed, and something had to be done to obviate the approaching danger of starvation.  We copy the following from Mrs. Sherwood's narrative, furnished to the Historical Society which describes vividly the perilous situation of these first settlers during this first winter:
     "It was with feelings akin to horror that our little party saw our provisions dwindle away.  Some plan must needs to be adopted.  What should it be?  In the midst of this dense darkness there appeared a single ray of hope.  It was ascertained that a man living on Elk creek, Pennsylvania, had raised some corn the year before.  Thither the two brothers, James and William Harper, hastened.  They arrived and told their story.  The stranger listened attentively, and then inquired their names.  Learning these, with some emotion he inquired their father's name.  Their father was dead, but his name was Alexander Harper.  'Yes,' he exclaimed, 'I will divide with you for your father's sake;' and then went on to relate that he had been a fellow-prisoner with the father of the young men in the war for independence, and became greatly attached to Mr. Harper.  When released, the two separated, never to meet again; but it was the grateful remembrance of other years which was to preserve Colonel Harper's family from perishing in the wilderness.
     "The boys were provided with corn, which they packed upon their shoulders, and carried more than fifty miles.
     "Now, while our travelers are returning homeward, we will take a peep into one of the homes of the settlers in the Harpersfield wilderness.  Here are the widow and her helpless orphans; the last morsel of corn had been parched and divided among the colony, sixteen kernels for each individual.  Night closed in, accompanied with all the horrors of winter; the driving sleet beat upon the bark roof, while the raging blast threatened demolition of every dweller's cabin.  Day broke drearily upon their troubled vision.  The boys had not returned.  The mother's heart grew sick with despair; she could not rise from her bed.  The daughter strove to soothe and comfort her mother, all the while watching eagerly for the approach of her brothers.  Soon the joyful tones of her brother William's voice broke the withering spell, as entering the cabin he threw the sack of corn upon the floor, and bade his sister to throw away her leeks, as he had something better to eat.  The mother's strength revived, and all hearts were now made happy."
     The corn was ground in a little mill resembling a coffee-mill, and in order to supply all with meal it had to be kept grinding continually.  These instances of hardship were not alone the unhappy experience of these first settlers, but serve to show what indeed was the common lot of all who came hither the first few years n the settlement of the county.
     The coming of spring was hailed with great delight.  A few acres of ground were cleared and planted to corn, and thus the means of subsisting in the wilderness were provided.

OTHER EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

     The territory of Conneaut township was the next place at which settlers located.  In the spring of 1799, Aaron Wright, Levi and John Montgomery, Nathan and John King, Robert Montgomery and family, and Samuel Bemus and family, arrived and made their homes along the banks of the Conneaut creek, within the township that now bears the same name as the stream.
     A few months later a settlement was begun in what is now Austinburg township, by Eliphalet Austin, George Beckwith and family, Roswell Stephens and family, David Allen, and one or two other young men.
     About the same time the soil of Windsor received a settler in the person of George Phelps and family, who settled in the southern part of that township in June of that year.
     Monroe township likewise this year became the residence of a pioneer, Mr. Stephen Moulton and family.
     An accession was made to the settlement in Harpersfield in the fall of 1799, Mr. Aaron Wheeler and family and Joseph Harper and family arriving.

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     The number of settlers within the limits of the present county of Ashtabula during the winter of 1799-1800 was therefore not far from fifty persons.  Harpersfield outranked the other townships as to the number of inhabitants; Con-Conneaut came next, then Austinburg, then Windsor and Monroe.
     Fresh additions were made in the spring of 1800.  The settlement in Windsor was increased by the arrival of Solomon Griswold and family; that of Harpersfield by the coming of Daniel Bartholomew and Mr. Morse with their families; that of Conneaut by the arrival of Seth Harrington, James Harper, and James Montgomery, with their families.  The population of Austinburg was increased by the following arrivals; those of Joseph Case, J. M. Case, Roger Nettleton, Joseph B. Cowles, Adam Cowles, Josiah Moses, John Wright, Sterling Mills and family, Noah Cowles and his son Solomon, Dr. O. K. Hawley, and Ambrose Humphrey.  The most of this numerous company made the journey from Norfolk, Connecticut, to Austinburg on foot.  The greater part of them came without their families, returning for them after they had erected cabins wherein they might live.  Some of this number finally took up their residence in other townships.
    This was the year when the entire Reserve was erected into a county and called Trumbull.  There were then residing in this large county, at the date of its organization, eleven hundred and forty-four persons.

TIME OF SETTLEMENT OF EACH TOWNSHIP.

     The following furnishes a statement of the date of settlement of each township in the county, with the names of the first permanent settler or settlers.
     Harpersfield, 1798: Harper, Gregory, and McFarland, emigrated from New York State.
     Conneaut, 1799; Montgomery, Wright, King, and Bemus, from New York State.
     Austinburg, 1799; Austin, Beckwith, Stevens, and Allen, from Connecticut.
     Windsor, 1799; George Phelps, from Connecticut.
     Monroe, 1799; Stephen Moulton, from New York.
     Morgan, 1801; Nathan Gillett, from Connecticut.
     Pierpont, 1801, Ewins Wright, from Connecticut.
     Geneva, 1801, Tobalt Bartholomew, from New York.
     Wayne, 1803; Joshua Fobes, from Connecticut.
     New Lynn, 1803; Joel Owen, from Connecticut.
     Williamsfield, 1804; Charles Case, from Connecticut.
     Ashtabula, 1804; Matthew Hubbard, from Connecticut.
     Andover, 1805; E. Lyman, from Connecticut
     Jefferson, 1805; Michael Webster, from Connecticut.
     Kingsville, 1805; Walter Fobes, from Connecticut.
     Plymouth, 1805, William Thompson and Thomas McGahe.
     Richmond, 1805; Yateman, Newcomb, and Tead.
     Rome, 1806; William Crowell, from Connecticut.
     Lennox, 1807; Lisle Asque, from Maryland.
     Denmark, 1809; Peter Knapp, from New York.
     Saybrook, 1810, George Webster, from New York.
     Orwell, 1815; A. R. Paine, from New York.
     Sheffield, 1817; Chancy Atwater, from Connecticut.
     Trumbull, 1818; Daniel Woodruff, from New York.
     Cherry Valley, 1818; Nathaniel Hubbard, from New York.
     Colebrook, 1819; Joel Blakeslee, from New York.
     Dorset, 1821; John Smith, from Massachusetts.
     Hartsgrove, 1828; Thomas Burband.

EARLY POPULATION OF THE COUNTY.

     Joshua Fobes, in his narrative of the early history of Wayne, states that about the close of 1804, the Rev. Thomas Robbins from Connecticut, a missionary on the Reserve, made a thorough census of the population then upon the Reserve, counting two bachelors one family.  According to this enumeration there were at that time ninety-three families within the boundaries of this county, - a total population of perhaps between four or five hundred.  The largest number was in Harpersfield, which contained twenty-seven families; the next largest at Conneaut, which contained twenty families; then Austinburg, where there were seventeen families; then Moran, where there were thirteen families.  Each of the others of the settled townships contained less than eight families.  In 1812, when the war between the United States and Great Britain took place, the population of the county could not have been farm from fifteen hundred souls.

FIRST EVENTS.

     The first house built upon the soil of the county by white people was the one erected at the mouth of Conneaut creek, in 1796, by the party of surveyors.  It was first occupied by themselves, then by Judge Kingsbury and his family during the winter of 1796-97, and then by Robert and Thomas Montgomery, in 1799.
     The first marriage solemnized in the county, according to the rites of civilization, was that which occurred in March of the year 1800, between Aaron Wright and Hannah Montgomery, of the Conneaut settlement.  The contracting parties went to Harpersfield, and were married by Justice Wheeler of that township, there being no magistrate in Conneaut with authority to perform the ceremony.
     The first birth of a white person in the county was the child of Judge Kingsbury, in the winter of 1796. (See Conneaut history)  The next birth was that of the child of Samuel Bemus, of Conneaut, born on the 12th day of March, 1801, and called Amelia. About the same time a little daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. George Phelps, of Windsor township.
     The first death, with the exception of Judge Kingsbury's child, was that of J. Gleason, Mr. Harper's hired man, which occurred in August of the year 1798.  Mr. Harper died in September following.
     The first school within the county was taught by Miss Elizabeth Harper, afterwards Mrs. Tappen, in the summer of 1802.  The first male teacher was Mr. A. Tappen, in the succeeding winter.  The first religious meetings were held in this same year in Harpersfield, Conneaut, and Austinburg.
     The first saw-mill in the county was that erected in Windsor township by Solomon Griswold, in 1800.
     The first grist-mill was erected on Grand river, in Austinburg, by Ambrose Humphrey, in 1801.
     O. K. Hawley was the first physician in the county, arriving in Austinburg in 1800.

FIRST DEED.

     Lands were sold and deeded and the same recorded prior to the organization of Ashtabula County.  The first deed recorded at Jefferson is in volume "A," page one, Ashtabula County records, and was given by Eliphalet Austin and Sybel, his wife, to Joab Austin, Nov. 14, 1810.  The parcel of land conveyed by this instrument consisted of fifteen (15) acres, in lot No. 15, Austin burg township.  The witnesses are Roswell Austin and Smith Platt, and the following is the acknowledgment: “State of Ohio, Geauga county, ss.: Richfield, December 14, A.D. 1810.   Personally appeared Eliphalet Austin and Sybel Austin, signers and sealers of the within instrument, and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed, before me, J. R. Hawley, justice of the peace.” Indorsed as follows: “Received the 11th May, A.D. 1811, and recorded the 17th October, 1811, in Ashtabula County records. James A. Harper, recorder.”
     The first town plat recorded was that of Jefferson village. The record may be found in Geauga county records, September 25, A.D. 1806. Transcribed to Ashtabula County records June 8, A.D. 1839.

DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING BREAD.

     The problem which engaged the minds and energies of the first settlers was how to keep from starvation.  However thinly clad, it was not difficult to escape suffering from the cold, as fuel was plentiful and near at hand.  But how to obtain a sufficient quantity of breadstuffs during the winter months was a question whose practical solution was often resisted by almost insurmountable difficulties.  No grain could be raised for the first winter's supply; settlements were so few, and so widely separated, that if they possessed the mans of rendering relief to each other, the distance, and the dense forests that intervened, made mutual assistance extremely difficult; but the truth is, that each settlement found that, however liberal in heart, it lacked the ability to render help, and was obliged to consider the law of self-preservation of first importance.  When the settlers had passed the first winter, they were able, during the following spring and summer, to prepare a small piece of ground and plant it with corn and vegetables; but after the grain was harvested the obstacle of converting it to flour presented itself.  For several years after the settlers began to arrive there were no mills within the limits of the county.  The nearest place where grain could be ground was at Elk Creek, Pennsylvania, a distance of sixteen miles from the Conneaut settlement.  Thither settlers, living nearest to this mill, would often carry corn and wheat on their backs, and carry the flour back again in the same manner.  Aaron Wright says, in his narrative of the early settlement of Conneaut township, "I have often carried a bushel and a half of wheat on my back to Elk Creek, Pennsylvania, a distance of sixteen miles, and if, on my return, my provisions had failed, I struck a fire, dipped some water into the mouth of my bag with my hands, and mixed my bread, and then spread it on a basswood bark, obtained for the purpose, and baked it before my fire."
     Various means were resorted to to reduced the corn and wheat to a condition such that bread could be made from it.  Generally the kernals were ground by a process of pounding.  The modus operandi is given in some of the township histories, and need not be repeated here.  The first grit-mills that were con-

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structed were extremely rude and clumsy affairs, almost always out of repair, and, when in running order, were most toilsome and tedious in producing the needed grist.  When they would do service they were in constant requisition, and sometimes, when the claims upon them crowded thick and fast, they did not stop even for Sundays, reminding us of the mill which the poet Browne describes:

     In course of time as settlements began to enlarge and congregate at certain points, as at Erie, Cleveland, Warren, and Painesville, the merchant commenced to arrive with his stock of flour, salt pork, and other necessary articles of food; and the colonists, who were fortunate enough to have any merchantable articles to offer in exchange, were enabled to obtain a supply for winter's use by making long, tedious, and sometimes perilous journeys.
     In certain seasons of the year the wild game of the forests and the fish from the streams supplied, in a great measure, the needed means of subsistence; but even these important articles of food could not appease the desire or relish for bread.
     During the entire period from the time of the earliest settlement up to the close of the war of 1812, and even after this time, the people were suffering from the lack of facilities for converting their grain to flour.  The mill erected by Mr. Humphrey on Grand river, in 1801, was at no time able to do what was required of it, and soon became totally unfit for duty.  In 1808 a mill was erected in Conneaut township by Aaron Wright, and one in Jefferson township by John Shook, in 1809, which now afforded the inhabitants of the county much better facilities for obtaining flour than they had hitherto enjoyed.

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