Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-14

back hs 60 often rode professionally, through-
out the Sd Judicial Circuit. But / must close,
hoping that all your anticipations Of the day
may be fully realized. aIl
remain yours, most cordially,
1 I f6 . ' cJl Van r. HUllPHREY,
| #fa. Iaft l .a..' q t
sa.a9 LETTER FROM THOs. D. WEBB, EsQ. -al
SH aL Z q WARREN, June 9Th, 1860. O
CHARLES WHITTLEsEY, ESQ.,
Dear Sr-I do not think It win be con-
Yenient for me TO be at NeWburgh next week.
l can say but little about Governor Hunt
ingtOn. His origin is well know. Although
lived but few miles from him in Connect
icut, don't reeollect to have ever seen him
there. He was in this country, at Youngs-
town in 1900. l. do not believe he was on
i tue Reserve before; have never been able
to trace him back Of that period. Had be-
/ gun the investigation q few years ago, in the
lifetime Of Gen. Perkins Judge Pease, or
Col. Hillman, could have attained to
certainty. In October Of that year he went
from Youngstown to Marietta for admission
| to the bar; returned, as believe, to Youngs-
town, and went from thence, soon after, to
Connecticut; returned to Youngstown early
in 1901 with his family; resided there until
late in the fall of 1901 or early in 1902, when
he moved to Cleveland. He was at Cleve-
land at the time the bits of personal property
were taken for taxation that year. tits from
old documents that have found in the public
offices in this town and elsewhere, that !
have ascertained most of those dates
| ! first saw Cleveland in October 1907. /
put up for a day or two with Major Amos
! SpaGord, who kept a tavern. Having
a letter of Introduction to Governor Hunt
ingt0n, then, however, a Judgel called at
! his house, and as he was absent on the circuit
Of the Supreme Court, presented it to his
| wife and induced her to board me for a short
| time. remained about three weeks, think,
and then left Cleveland. Gov. Huntington
| then lived in a log house standing a little
south Of Superior street. not far from the site
Of the American House, He had a frame
bsrn, in size thirty feet by forty, near by
| In his barn-yard l saw wild turkies for
the first time At that time the family
of Governor Huntington was composed of
| his wife, children, the number ] do not rec
ollect, and one female domestic, Patty Ryan;
! she came with him from Connecticut, another,
Miss Cobb, who, also, came with him, had
returned. All the families on the city OF ten
acre lots or the lands adjoining, at that time,
that l Iecollect, and l think that recollect
ALL we1e,
Amos Spaford,
- Gilbert
Nathan Perry, afterwards a Judge,
Lorenzo Carter
Samuel Huntington,
John Walworth, and
An Irish family the name have forgotten.
Samuel Dodge had lived on a ten acre lot, but
had at that time taken up his residence at Eu-
cid other families had resided there also, but
at the time arrived, had removed. There were /
the remains Of some two or three buildings
along the bank of the river, one Of which /
was told had been occupied as a store by a
Seotchman, by the name of Alexander Camp
bell, or Macdonald. L1
Those buildings were all unoccupied at that
time. When l was at Gov. HuntiRgtOn's, S,
there was a social party at his house, so far IS
| recollect, all females, except myself There
were several married ladies, reoOIlect partic-
ularly but two, Mrs. Walworth and Mrs.
Huntington. We had all or nearly all the
young ladies in the place. think there could
not have been more than one absent; those
present were she that is now Mrs. Long, Mrs.
Mathews of Painesville, and daughter Of
Mr.. Carter, afterwards Mrs Miles and subse-
quently Mrs. Strong.
left Cleveland never expecting to see it
again, or to meet with Gov. Huntington, but
having altered my plans, offered myself for
admission to the bar at New Lancaster, Fair
field county, where first saw him. used
but seldom to see him. believe saw him
two or three times afterwards on the bench.
After he became Governor in March, 1910,
and after he had removed to Paines-
vile, l meet with him when he was
in search of a person to take the Office
of President Judge of the third Circuit Of the
Common Pleas, which he offered to me. hard
ly know whether to confne my recollectiOns
to him or to embrace a Target field. Any
description of his person that can give is
useless, as you have it, undoubtedly, more
| correct from others. y r-ln .g.
During my stay at Cleveland, which was
from the last of October until some time past
the middle of November, 1907, there was
not a single vessel in Cleveland, nor in sight
on the Lake. There were but two or three
owned on the American side of Lake Erie,
and they had been, a short time before, driv-
en- by storm down to Black Rock, and were
laid up for the winter. All the water craft
on the Cuyahoga were log or bark Canoes
Up to that time there was no fat or ferry
boat there was not much use for one
I do not recollect to have seen a single travel
Ter pass through Cleveland, except one of
Aaron Burrs men making his escape, ragged,
without money, and on foot from that i'll
fated expedition.
There was not even a shanty on the west
side of the river. The mail was sent up
the lake every two weeks. At that time it
was carried BY a son Of Elijah Gum; when
he came to a stream, if it was not fordable
by reason of foods or other cause, he passed it
on araft. During the winter Of 1s0T-s, the
government established an express mail
through from Washington to Detroit which
continued but for few months as the threat
ening aspect of affairs blew over, and was
not again put in operation until after the war
of 1872 commenced. Gen S. Perkins, who
was then Post-master at Warren, was direct |
ed by the Post Master General to 90 to De-
troit TO establish ferries and to build ferry
boats to accommodate that and the ordinary
mails, at the principal streams It was at
this time that IBeIieVe the first boat for the
transportation of teams at Cleveland was
built, at least never heard that there had
been any before. The mail from Buffalo ar
rived every two weeks and from Pittsburgh
and Warren weekly. There was no resident
physician until the arrival Of DR.. Long in
| 1910 or 1871 DR.. Hawley, Of Austinburghi
and Thompson, of Hudson, practiced in CleYe-
land met DR.. Hawley one day going home
from Cleveland with lantern in his hand
which he had used the night before on visit
to patient in that place.
The first Court Of Common Pleas Of Guy
ahoga County was held in June, A. D. 1910, |
under shed temporarily erected on wooden
forks on the south side Of Superior street,
am the only lawyer that attended that Court
now alive, unless Mr. Whittlesey was pres
ent, but think be was not.
/ could add much more, but circumstances
prevent