Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-11-24
aaaaa ~ssse& hRAVENNA OHIO MONDAY NOV ~24 1851
Historical "reminiscences

Historical "reminiscences.
From the address deliusrsd at Raosanl
on the Fourth Of July last, by L.jV
BIERcE, Esq. q so,s4..e sia, aag SEQ;
AT the close OF the Revolutionary wa
the vast territory north west Of The Obi
river became the subject Of much contro
verrey lying within no jurisdiction know
4 TO civilized laws, each of the several clain
ants could set up no betterol little than on
derived from King Charles Of England,
i who, like other Esonarchs, assumed d righi
as Gods vice Gerent, 10 convey what Ii
never owned. qhese pretended cofiveyan
ces we're often conflicting, overlapping enci
other: ! 'Phus Che grant OF Charles ofwha
is now Connecticut, extended west, ,betweei
The latitudeslof al degss and d. idegsJ N
TO the Pacific ocean. This extended sopeI
d large portion ofioN ew York ana Penn
sylyania, saying nothing ofsthe States, ant
territories west of Ohio- To obviate these
difficulties, in September 1885, Gpnnecti
entlceded 70 the United lStaaessall ethealan
within her chartered limits lying within
l2O miles west ofsthe western boundary Of
Pennsylyania-which the territory
now known as the Western Reserve. siss !.
;te Bya The treaty made lot Fort McIntosh,
where Beaver, in Pennsy ylvania now stands,
in 1885, sbeIweenathe Uniled States and the
Wyandots, dDelawnres, Ghippeways, and
Oteways, the United States acquired the
x;al Il I'LL tI,o I'd ~ nIor
commencing at the mouth Of the 5Cuyaho-
ga river-up that river to- Old Portage
then known as Cuyahoga Portage-then
across the hills separating the aCayahoga
and Tuscarawas rivers, on anAndiau trail
called the Portag ge path, to New PortaSe
thenscalled Tuscorawus Portage, then down
theTuscarawast to the forks abos Fort Lau.
rens,a now Boliyar-thence to Forl Lara.
mics, &c, including about three foufths of
oil that is now the State of Ohio. -iaaistt5
Such was Ohio in nGl7s5 beyond the
pale Of c;yilizatien-a terra incognita for
the Ugh. 10 settle which the United States
we're then negotiating. 80 Fzsss
6dBut Connecticut in cediEg her juriscic
tion to1he United States, retained her own
ersnipover the soil, and in, l 1856 sold the
tfact, embraced in the cession, to tileS Con.
necticut Land Company for $l2 2,00, ,0o0,
which composes what is known as The Con-
necticut School Fund. 10 ,sfzn9s tEssag ss9a
q But although the Indian title was thus
ext.Bguished, by treaty, the Indians re.
garded the whites as intruders on their land
md hostilites were freqnents state
Of things continued down to the decisive
battles Of General Wayne, atathe rapids
Of the Maumee, on the 20th' Of August
1894, when the indian spirit was subdued.
BY the treaty he made, the ear following
or, rather the terms he dictated to the
confirmed the boundaries as
established by The treaty Of Fort Mcintosh
This treaty, ,,nade a, fort Greenvilie,i in 1895,
finally settled the boundary between the
United States and the Indians, and it is, of
course, but Sc years sipcesl lhegtale to the
ground on which we are this day assem-
bled, was decided by the arbitrament Of the
sword and the tomahawk, -.
In July 1896, one year after the state Of
Connecticut sold her lard 10 the Connecti--
cui land Company, the first surveying par
~ arrived on the spot where Cleveland
now slands-of which party was your late
citizen, Judge AMI Aiwaler.-
The mind is almost overwhelmed with The
vastness Of the idea that during The life,
and even the manhood Of that one man,
state, with 1000. 900 inhabitants has grown
up in this, then unknown wilderness.
Judge Atwater that year, selected his
land on the Cuyahoga river in Mantua,
where he resided for a. period Of fifty. FIVE
years-and on which he died on the 22d
day Of June last-being the last surviving
member Of the frs. exploring party.
The same year Delaun Mills, from Sims.
bury, Connecticut, settled. at what is now
he center oc Nelsno- Judge Atwater be-
ing his nearest neighbor. N Nelson and Man.
un, being settled the same year, were three
years in. advance Of any other townships
in the county. 80. -. !. i
The spring, Of 1899 was 5. a noted era in
The history Of the Reserve. A grist mill
was erected at Newburgh. in Cuyahoga
county, at which the inhabitants could get
heir corn ground, insiead Of pounding
if, which had been the mode; OF grinding
It previously. The process was 10 hollow
out the top Of q stump, into which 10 put
heir corn, and then, with stone peslle,
worked by a spring pole, mash it into
what was called hominy. But in the
spring of 1899, a change came Ger them,
and,the hollow stump and spring pole were
for mill. This was the FIRST,
md, for some iime,. the only mill on. the
Reserve. .,.sz.t-szassz...s. -
In May 1899, Elias Harmon left Con.
,ecticut for Mansuu, making the second
settler in that township, and the third in
what is now Portage County. He pur.
'ued the only route tnen known, TO lake
Ontario, where he purchased boat. and,
with his family, started for the far, and then
West. While passing up the
axe, in his open boat, he was overlook by
Deocon David Hudson and Benjamin Tap.
,an, with whom be then kept compahy.-l
By drawing with ropes along shore, (ori
as it was called in those days.
Il