Lake County Ohio GenWeb

Inventory of the County Archives of Ohio
No. 43. Lake County (Painesville)
Lake County Historical Sketch

Prepared by The Ohio Historical Records Survey Project
Division of Community Service Programs
Work Projects Administration
Columbus, Ohio
The Ohio Historical Records Survey Project
October 1941
Pages 1-11

Transcribed by Cynthia Turk

HISTORICAL SKETCH

Lake County is situated on Lake Erie in the extreme northeastern part of Ohio. The ancient shoreline of Lake Erie, the edge clearly marked, extends through the county passing through the village of Mentor, and about a mile south of Painesville, and, at the eastern line of the county, through Unionville. Approximately one-half of its area is in this old lake bed with its characteristic surface soils of muck and silt. South of this line the topography is that of a plateau region modified by glacial action, and, in spite of its proximity to the lake, the southern part of the county has a rolling contour and in spots even rugged scenery. The great inequalities which characterize the topography of the county, are due partly to erosion. The general surface is an almost uniformly inclined plane rising gradually from the lake to an altitude of more than 600 feet at the base of the conglomerate whereever it strikes the southern line of the county. It is estimated that 30 per cent of the total area is undulating, 30 per cent gently to heavily rolling, and 40 per cent hilly to very hilly.

The drainage of Lake County follows the marked surface slope around the lake. The western end of the county is in the drainage basin of the Chagrin River, but most of the area drains into the Grand River, which cuts its way between bluffs, frequently rising as high as 200 feet to the lake plains at Painesville, and thence to its mouth at Fairport Harbor. There are also smaller streams and there is very little swamp land in the county. The Chagrin River at Kirtland and the Grand River at Painesville afford extensive water power.

About seven miles south of Painesville on the Geauga County line is an ominence known as Little Mountain. It is a cone of sandstone seamed with layers of white gravel and pierced with deep fissures or caverns. It had a sacred charactor among the Indians and as early as 1846 it was a favorite summer resort for the settlers in this region.

The lake plains extend back from the lake shore for distances varying from five to eight miles. The soil is stiff clay and the surface is much eroded. Deep ravines cutting down into the Erie shales give good surface drainage and produce conditions admirably adapted to fruit growing. In nearly all the northern part of Willoughby and Mentor Townships, the surface is covered with a fine clay loam containing sand and is dotted with a profusion of granite boulders. In the northeastern part of the county the surface generally has a loamy, gravelly clay soil which is somewhat swampy in some places. East of Painesville there is an extensive deposit of peaty material or black muck which has proved to be an excellent fertilizer.

The geological formations are of the Olentangy and Ohio shales along Lake Erie, the width of the county, and of the Waverly and Maxville series in the soughteastern part of the county. The mineral resources of the region are negligible. Considerable salt is removed for use in the chemical industries at Fairport, however. Clay and sanstone in sufficient amounts to be of commercial value occur in the county, as well as occasional deposits of limestone. In the eastern part of the county, chiefly in Madison Township, considerable quatities of bog iron ore have been found, but the coal-bearing rocks did not reach so far north.(1)

Lake County contains four enclosures, six mounds, and a village site as evidence of having been the abode of prehistoric man. The important trail of the aborigines which followed the southern shore of Lake Erie passed through this region, and while the existing evidences of prehistoric settlement are relatively few, they are sufficient to attach to this territory considerable archaeological and anthropological interest. Of particular importance is the enclosure occupying the point of land at the juncture of Painesville [sic-should be Paine's] Creek and Grand River. It is irregular in form, occupies a stong position, and is of the so-called defensive type of structure.(2)

The Eries were the earliest of the historic tribes to settle in this region. However, they were vanquished about 1650 by the Iroquois, and northeastern Ohio became the home of many tribes, among them the Senecas, Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Cayugas, Tonawandas, Iroquois, and Delawares. The Massasaquas, a tribe of the Delawares, were the most numerous Indian inhabitants in the region of Lake County. (3) In 1726 at Albany the Iroquois ceded to the white man all territory east of Lake Erie and a strip 60 miles in width along Lakes Ontario and Erie to the Cuyahoga River. The western tribes did not recognize the validity of their action, however, and it was not until several other treaties had been concluded that the Indian claims to northern Ohio were cleared. The treaty at Fort Industry in 1805 completely relinquished the Indian title to the Western Reserve.(4) At no time were the Indians a serious menace to the settlers of Lake County. They were present in great numbers in the vicinity of the Grand River, but they became friendly with the whites and even participated in their religious gatherings. Chief Seneca was the most noted of the leaders of these Indians.(5) As late as 1797 Indians still remained on the eastern side of the river opposite Willoughby.(6) When rumors of the approaching war with England reached this regiohn in 1811, the scanty Indian population disappeared from Lake County and moved farther west.(7)

Except for explorers who may have passed through the region on the lake shore path, Lake County remained untouched by the whites until comparatively late in history. In Novmeber 1760 Major Robert Rogers and a band of rangers camped on the banks of the Grand River where Fairport is now situated and negotiated with Chief Pontiac for the purchase of lands in this vicinity. The result of this effort seems not to have been recorded, but apparently it was unsuccessful since more than 30 years elapsed before steps toward settlement were taken.(8)

Four states, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut had claims on the Northwest, but, with certain reservations, these lands were eventually ceded to the United States. Connecticut reserved ownership and jurisdiction over a strip south of Lake Erie, north of the forty-first parallel, and extending 120 miles westward from the Pennsylvania line. In 1792 Connecticut granted half a million acres of the western end of the Western Reserve to those inhabitants of certain Connecticut towns whose property had been destroyed by Tory raids during the Revolution. This region of the Reserve became known as the "Fire Lands." In May 1795 practically all the rest of the Reserve was offered for sale, and a few months later the land was sold without survey for $1,200,000 to a group of 48 men who organized as the Connecticut Land Company. In 1796 Moses Cleaveland led a party which included surveyors into the region.(9) From 1795 to 1800 the Reserve was without formal gonvernment but in the latter year the United States was given jurisdictoin and the entire Reserve was made into one county named in honor of Governor Tumbull of Connecticut.(10)

The directors of the Connecticut Land Company selected, to offer for sale to actual settlers only, six townships in which the first improvements were to be made. Three of these were in the area included in present-day Lake County; namely, Madison, Mentor, and Willoughby Townships. The remainder of the Reserve east of the Cuyahoga River was divided in a complicated manner. The four best townships in the eastern part of the reserve were selected and surveyed into lots, an average of 100 lots to the township. As there were 400 shares of stock in the company the four townships would yield one lot for each share. Perry Township in Lake County was one of these four townships. Then the directors selected as equalizing townships certain other tracts which were considered next in value to the four already selected. These included Concord, Painesville, and Kirtland Townships in Lake County.(11) As was the case throught the Reserve, the land was surveyed into townships five miles square, but because of the irregularity fo the lake shore the townships bordering upon it are fractional.(12)

The first permanent settler in Lake County was John Walworth, who established himself near Mentor in 1799. Charles Parker, an early surveyor, built a cabin in the county in about 1796, but remained only temporarily.(13) Within a short time settlement had been undertaken in each of the townships of the county: Mentor in 1798 by Charles Parker, Jared Ward, and Moses Park; Willoughby in 1798 by David Abbott; Painesville in 1800 by John Walworth; Madison in 1802 by John Harper; Concord in 1902 by William Jordan; LeRoy in 1802 by Colonel Amasa Clapp; Perry in 1808 by Ezra Beebee; [sic-should be Beebe] and Kirtland in 1810 by John Moore, Jr.(14) Willoughby was originally called Chagrin but in 1834 the name was changed in honor of Professor Willoughby of Herkimer County, New York.(15)

One of the largest stockholders in the Connecticut Land Company was Henry Champion, who, in 1805, surveyed the site of a town which for a time was called Champion. This village later took the name of Painesville from Edward Paine, an officer of the Revolution, who had settled in this region in 1799 or 1800.(16) Another prominent figure and pioneer, Samuel Huntington, was one of several men who, in 1803, erected a warehouse at the mouth of the Grand River. Huntington and others laid out the village of Fairport in 1812 on the east bank of the Grand River. However, a pioneer named Joseph Rider had settled here as early as 1803. In 1825 the harbor became so important that the United States built a lighthouse there, and in the years following made improvements on the harbor. Its most prosperous period was between 1842 and 1852 when it was the outlet for much of northern Ohio, but after the advent of railroads the village declined in importance as a business center. In 1847 it exported $462,028 in merchandise, of which cheese and cereals were highest in value.(17) About a mile above Fairport, Thomas Richmond established the village of Richmond in 1832, which for a time promised to be the most important shipping center in the county, but after 1835 it gradually declined.(18) The pioneer physician in the county was John H. Mathews, who came to Painesville in 1808.(19)

The War of 1812 caused a temporary cessation of settlement in the county, the pioneers were discouraged from settling in this region by the surrender of Detroit by General Hull in 1812. There was a call for all capable of bearing arms to assemble at Sandusky in order to make a stand against the expected invaders. However, after the British and Indians had failed to take Fort Meigs and Fort Stephenson, the volunteers returned to their homes and no further fears were felt concerning settling in the region. At the close of the war a wave of immigrants began to arrive.(20)

In the 1830's Kirtland Township was invaded by a large group of Mormons, whose religious principles aroused much controversy. Sidney Rigdon was an ardent Campbellite minister at Kirtland, but became a Mormon convert and in 1830 many of his congregation adopted this faith. In the spring of 1831many Mormons from Palmyra, New York, came to Kirtland, among them being Joseph Smith, the prophet, and Brigham Young. In 1834 a large temple costing about $40,000 was erected and the settlement began to assume large proportions. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Mormons settled in the vicinity of Kirtland and a bank, a printing press, stores, and other enterprises were established and appeared to prosper. At Kirtland the Latter Day Saints perfected the fundamentals of their religious organization, including their doctrine of faith and their policies for regulation both the temporal and spiritual activities of their members. Polygamy however, was not officially proclaimed until long after the church had moved from Ohio. The Mormons were bound together by ties of economic as well as religious interest and prospered to a remarkable degree.

Their prosperity, however, proved to be short-lived. Their bank was unable to redeem the script that it had issued, judgments (sic) were rendered by the courts against the property of the Mormon leaders, and religious prejudice rose so high against the sect in neighboring communities that Rigdon and Smith were tarred and feathered. In 1838 the majority of the group moved to Missouri, leaving only a small number of the sect in Kirtland. The family of a Mr. and Mrs. Stratton held the key of the temple and claimed to have a title to it, but in 1880 a court decision returned the temple to the Mormons and it became the center of this religion in Ohio. In 1873 a group which called itself the Reformed Church of Latter Day Saints came to Kirland and became the leading Mormon group there.(2) The Temple remains standing today and may be viewed by the public.

Despite the loss of its Mormon population, Lake County steadily grew, and in March 1840, was organized as a separate county, taking seven of its townships from Geauga County, and Willoughby Township from Cuyahoga County.(22) As the eight townships did not embrace sufficient territory to meet the conditional requirements for a county, the deficiency was supplied by including the waters of the lake in the northern boundary.(23) The county is bounded on the north and northwest by the lake, on the east by Ashtabula County, on the south by Geauga County, and on the west and southwest by Cuyahoga County. It is the smallest county in the state, containing only 215 square miles.(24) No changes have ever been made in its boundaries.(25) Without serious controversy Painesville was made the county seat, and the courthouse, begun in 1840, was eventually completed in 1852, though occupied some years earlier.(26)

Since most of the early settlers of the county came from New England, the region naturally became a center for the activities of the Underground Railroad in the pre-Civil War period. Madison was one of the most important stations, and George Harris, of Uncle Tom's Cabin fame, was once arrested there.(27) However, the industrial and agricultural opportunities attracted settlers from many sections to this region, not the least famous being James A. Garfield whose home in Mentor has recently been acquired by the Western Reserve Historical Society as a museum. In 1840 the population of the county was 13,719; in 1860, 15,157; in 1880, 16,326; and in 1900, 21,680.(28) Among the unusual settlers who came into Lake County were the Finns who settled at Fairport Harbor and vicinity about 1880. About 2,500 persons of this nationality came to the county and proved to be most industrious and desireable citizens.(29) By 1930 the population of the county had grown to 41,674 inhabitants of whom 83.7 per cent were native-born whites.(30) Of the 6,173 foreign-born whites, the largest numbers came from Finland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and England.(31)

In 1930 Painesville, with a population of 10,944, was the only city in the county. There were, however, 13 incorporated villages: Kirtland Hills, Waite Hill, Mentor-on-the-Lake, North Perry, Lakeline, Willowick, Willoughby, Madison, Mentor, Fairport Harbor, Richmond, Perry, and Wickliffe. The first six of these villages were incorporated in recent years chiefly because of the progressive urbanization of the western part of the county as the area became a region of suburban homes in the Cleveland metropolitan district.(32)

Like most Ohio counties, Lake was predominantly agricultural in the early years of settlement. This tendency was aided by favorable conditions, the average temperature of the county being about 48 degrees, the rainfall 40 inches, and the growing season from 150 to 178 days.(33) The pioneers soon learned that the conditions of soil and climate were particularly favorable for the cultivaton of fruit as well as of the cereals and grasses.(34) For some years the county led Ohio in the production of pears, grapes, and onions, and was noted for its dairy products, especially cheese.(35) In 1854, a nursery was established at Painesville, which proved so successful that several others were opened in the county. This industry has become nationally famous. Maple sugar was produced in large quantities in the early period and fine cattle were bred.(36)

In 1930 there were 1,059 farms occupying 44 per cent of the area of the county, and of these farms 52.4 per cent were in crop lands, 17.4 per cent in woodlands, and 27.1 per cent in pastures.(37) The land and buildings were valued at $26,749,690,(38) and produced poducts valued at $1,692,299 of which dairy products were the largest item.(39) The grand tax duplicate for the county in 1933, was more than $85,000,000;(40) it is apparent therefore, that agricultural wealth constituted no less than one-third of the taxable property in the county. In 1930 the county exceeded the state average in value and production of fruit, and raised more grapes than any other county. The average income from farms in 1935 was $1,487, as compared with $1,112 for the state.(41) In 1930 only 9.3 per cent of the farms were operated by tenants,(42) but in 1935 this had increased to 15.3 per cent. This figure, however, was still considerably lower than that for the state as a whole.(43) In 1930 over 44 per cent of the farms of the county were mortgaged,(44) but despite this handicap, the relief costs for the county in 1934 were only $4.72, in contrast with the state average of $9.22 per capita.(45) Of the total number of workers gainfully employed in the county, 17.8 per cent were in agriculture in 1930,(46) and the population is about equally divided between urban and rural residents.(47)

The earliest industial developments in Lake County were based upon the primary products of wood and grain. In 1807 Joel Scott constructed a dam across the Grand River and erected a gristmill and a sawmill. This example was followed by many similar enterprises in the county.(48) Because of easy availablility of bog iron, iron furnaces were opened at Mentor in 1821; in 1822 a forge was in operation; and in 1825 an iron works in Painesville made stoves, castings, and hollow ware. In 1830 there were four furnaces in operation at Painesville and viciinity. However, the lack of coal made this industry economically impracticable when stong competition began to arise.(49) Numerous other enterprises were undertaken at Painesville; in 1819 a distillery, in 1850 a plow works, in 1853 a mill machinery plant, in 1855 a planing mill, in 1859 a steam engine and a mill machinery factory, in 1864 a fence material plant, in 1865 a boot and shoe factory, and in 1868 a carriage factory. Plants for the production of cheese and of cider products were also built at an early period. In 1869 Charles Ruggles of Huron opened a commercial fishery at Fairport Harbor which soon developed into a large industry.(50)

At present many products are manufactured in the county. The most important are: veneer cutting machinery, washing powder, phenol, lye, soda ash, barium products, baskets, coke, metallic carpet trimmings, brass and rubber goods, fabricated steel, cranes, tools, and lamp shades. Other products include dairy products, wines, and fish.(51) In 1930 there were 48 industrial establishments in Lake County, employing 3,537 workers, and manufacturing products worth $2,9639,210.(52) In that year, 748 workers were unemployed and 211 temporarily laid off in the county, which represents a higher percentage than in purely agricultural counties.(53)

The rapid development of Lake County was due in part to the fact that three of the oldest roads in northeastern Ohio passed through this area. The natural highway leading through the county was the ancient lake-shore route. Under the directon of the Connecticut Land Company a road was surveyed in 1897 by Thomas Sheldon, which followed, in the main, this old trail from the Pennsylvania line toward the Cuyahoga River. This was known as the "Girdled Road." A road called the Old State Road extended northwest from Warren and entered Lake County in Concord Township whre it turned north and continued on to Fairport. The third historic highway was known as the Chillicothe Road which led south through Kirtland and thence to its terminus at the old capital of Ohio.

A great volume of produce from the back country came down to the shores of Lake Erie through Lake County to be loaded upon the sailing vessels, and, after 1817, the steamboats, which called at Fairport Harbor. In 1845 a line of stages ran from Wellsville on the Ohio River to Fairport, using the Painesville and Warren plank road, one of the old toll roads of the county. A crude railroad with wooden rails protected by strap iron was completed in 1837 from Fairport to Painesville. It required two years to construct these three miles of track, over which horses drew the cars. This was probably the first railroad in Ohio. The first steam railroad in the county was the Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula on which work was begun in 1849. It was opened from Clevleand to the Pennsylvania line in 1852, and later became part of the New York Central system. Fairport's dream of becoming a railroad terminus was not realized until 1872 with the completion of a railroad running south to Chardon. It was extended on to Youngstown in 1874. The Baltimore and Ohio, which acquired this line, developed the old village of Richmond with elevators, warehouses, and ships. The docks and northern connections at Fairport have made that harbor an important place for the shipment of coal, iron ore, and other commodities. The first electric traction line was opened between East Cleveland and Painesville in 1896.(54) There are four railroads in the county at present of which the New York Central, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Nickel Plate are the most important.(55) In addition, 561 miles of highway have been constructed.(56)

The first bank in the county was the Bank of Geauga, established at Painesville in 1829. This bank merged wit the First National Bank of Painesville in 1864. In 1854 a private bank was established there, and in 1860 the Lake County Bank was opened. The Exchange Bank was organized at Madison in 1875, and by 1912 the county had four banks, two of which were branches of the Cleveland Trust Company.(57)

The settlers of Lake County carried with them the New England appreciation of education, and in the early years of settlement many schools were opened. Abraham Tappan held school in a log hut near Painesville in 1804-5, and his work was later taken over by Hugh MacDougall, Franklin Paine, and Flavius J. Huntington who taught at Painesville from 1816 to 1849.(58) The Huntington Private School was the first to be incorparated in the county.(59) Grammar schools were also soon opened in other townships; in 1811 in Mentor, in 1814 in LeRoy and Kirtland, in 1815 in Concord and Perry, and in the other townships soon after.(60) These schools were of the tuition type and the teachers were poorly paid. Lovina Hulbert taught at LeRoy for the salary of 75 cents a week and her board.(61)

In 1823 George Thompson opened a classical school., which was succeeded in 1831, by an academy operated by the Painesville Education Society. The school continured until about 1850 and at one time, had an enrollment of 300 students. In 1838 Painesville and contiguous territory were divided into three school districts and schoolhouses were erected. The Akron Plan of school organization was adopted in 1851 and the Education Society transferred its property to the union school district.(62)

Several other academies and colleges were founded in Lake County though some of them were short-lived. From 1833 to 1846 a medical college was located in Willoughby, but because of rumors of body-snatching, it was obliged to move. Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary opened at Kirtland in 1839 in the old Mormon Temple under Reverend Slater, and remained in operation until about 1853. This was one of the earliest normal schools in Ohio. The Lake Erie Female Seminary was established in the old medical college buildings at Willoughby in 1847, but after a fire in 1856, the school was re-established at Painesville as the Lake Erie Seminary. This institution was an outgrowth of Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts and many of its faculty were graduates of that shcool. It was reorganized in 1898 as the Lake Erie College and Seminary and its curriculum was broadened to give full college training. This college has retained its vigor and popularity to the present time. From 1845 until 1884 a seminary was operated at Madison, but in 1888 the builings and grounds were donated to the National Women's Relief Corps and later made into a home for Ohio's soldiers and sailors. The Andrews School for Girls was another academy established by the wealth of one o the earliest familis of Willoughby.(63)

Madison Township in Lake County was the second school district in Ohio to start a movement for the consolidation of schools, and by 1934 there were no one-room schools in the county.(64) At present there are 7,067 children enrolled in the schools of the county.(65) While the percentage of illiteracy for the entire population is 2.5 per cent,(66) the large element of foreign population may account for this comparatively high figure.

Churches were also established at an early date. In 1810 the first church of Painesville was organized by Reverend Nathan B. Darrow of the Connecticut Missionary Socciety and was a union of Presbyterians and Congregationalists.(67) The Methodists were organized in Painesville in 1820.(68) In other townships also churches were organized; in LeRoy there was a Presbyterian mission in 1811 and a Baptist organization in 1826; in Madison there was a Congregational Church in 1814; in Concord, a Methodist Church in 1818 and a Congregational Church in 1834; in Perry, Methodist meetings were held in 1815; in Kirtland, a Presbyterian Church in 1818 and a Methodist Church in 1820; in Mentor, Reverend Ira Eddy organized a Methodist Church in 1816 and the same year this sect established a church at Willoughby.(69) In 1926 there were 15,041 church members in the county of whom 4,916 were Roman Catholics, 2,830 Methodists, 1,350 Disciples of Christ, and 1,131 Congregationalists. Small numbers belonged to several other denominations.(70)

The oldest newspaper in the county is the Painesville Telegraph established in 1822 by Eber D. Howe. Several other papers were published in this city but did not long survive. Among these were the Republican, issued by Horace Steele from 1836 to 1841; the Grand River Record, issued in 1852; the Advertiser, issued in 1855; and the Northern Ohio, issued in 1871. The later paper espoused the Greenback idea, a scheme which gained considerable popularity in this region.(71) At present there are four papers published in Lake County: the Painesville Telegraph, a daily paper with Republican editorial policies; the Lake County News-Herald, a weekly independent paper, published at Willoughby since 1892; the Madison Press, a weekly paper, published since 1933 and non-partisan in its political views; and the Amerikan Sanomat, a weekly paper, issued at Fairport Harbor by the Finns. It is an independent Republican paper and has been printed since 1897.

Endnotes

1. Report of the Geological Surveyof Ohio, ser. ii (Columbus, 1873), I, pt. i, 510-519; Williams Brothers, pub., History of Geauga and Lake Counties Ohio (Philadelphia, 1878), 16.

2. William C. Mills, Archaeological Atlas of Ohio (Columbus, Ohio, 1914), 43.

3. Williams, op. cit., 17-18.

4. Williams, op. cit., 11.

5. L.B. Hillis, Lake County Illustrated (Painesville, Ohio, 1912), 3.

6. Harvey Rice, Pioneers of the Western Reserve (Boston and New York, 1898), 288.

7. C.B. Crary, Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences (Marshalltown, Iowa, 1893), 4.

8. Hillis, op. cit., 3.

9. Eugene Holloway Roseboom and Francis Phelps Weisenburger, A History of Ohio (New York, 1934), 71, 94.

10. Williams, op. cit., 21-22.

11. Williams, op. cit., 12-13; H.B. Stranahan and G.C. Corey, Atlas of Lake County Ohio (Cleveland, 1898), 8-9.

12. Simeon D. Fess, ed., Ohio Reference Library (Chicago and New York, 1937), III, 163.

13. Hillis, op. cit., 3.

14. Williams, op. cit., 20.

15. Henry Howe, comp., Historical Collections of Ohio (Norwalk, 1896), II, 34.

16. Ibid., 42; William Stowell Mills, "Lake County and its Founder," Ohio State Arch. and Hist. Quarterly, X (1902), 361-371.

17. Williams, op. cit., 219; Howe, op. cit. II, 43.

18. Warren Jenkins, The Ohio Gazetteer and Travellers' Guide;. . . (Columbus, 1837), 348; Fess, op. cit., III, 164.

19. Williams, op. cit., 31.

20. Crary, op. cit., 4-10.

21. Emilius O. Randall and Daniel J. Ryan, History of Ohio (New York, 1912), III, 403-429; Harold E. Davis, "Religion in the Western Reserve," Ohio State Arch. and Hist. Quarterly, XXXVIII (1929), 495-496; Williams, op. cit., 247-248; Crary, op. cit., 33-35; Fess, op. cit., III, 166; Howe, op. cit., II, 34-41.