Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-07-14

lines of stages, and population OF
about 500, the people on the West
side of the fiver in 1887, thought
their village was large enough and
of sufficient Importance to be incor-
perated as borough, and on the
nth day of February, 1928, the Leg
islature passed law incorporating
The Borough of Ashtabala. The
first election under this charter was
held on the 5th day of Nay, 1928,
at which II. ". GriswOid, Esq, was
elected Mayor, Henry Lovelaiid, Re
eonler, and Amos Fisk, lWm. w.
Reed, Matthew Hubbard, Philo
Booth aId5John c. DeBlair, Trust
iSess. .a,Judgihg from the character of
the men seievted, ii appears to have
besa the aim of the citizens at that
time TO seleot their officers frQin their
best and mest competent men, set.
tiAg an example worthy of imitation
aud which it5Would have been well
for our peoRleaiways to have fol-
lowed. Il .iasbi s84l5 ss ss5
70 The poweT. granted by this, act Of
Incorporation was very limited, 1t
RroylaedTindeed, for tine election, of
a Msyef, Recorder and Trustees, but
gave, tbem little authority or power,
e permitted tie Town Council to
levy a TAX aapually not exceeding in
any one year two mills on the dollar,
but ,prohlblted the leyyipg of any
iax, payable ~ money, pnless by the
curreneeI of twe-thirds of the
freeholders resident in the corpora
l9hse There was certainly no dan
ger Of oppressive taxation under
Fl i 1850 fbei de- Officers 5fis l elected b T. ,agig @grs
somewhat. less CONSERVATIVE than
their predecessors, and ambitious, per
hapS las Some Of their successors
hsyei bteifJ, to do sometime. note
worthy for the public, Or at least Of
spending some Of its money for the
public good; they made Strenuous
Efforts 70 obtain the Concurrence Of
the s'twosthirds Of the freeholders to
tile two mills tax, but without sue
cess. ss Afespeetable A majority voted
'for4t, butEia atwo-thirds vote could
DOT be y9btained, though several
meetings were called Tor that p1rl
pose 9Disgdsted with ar organic
law so pdmerlessa and Inefficient, the
.GohncfI, ,owithOut consulting the free
holders residehClin the corporation,
-as pefhaPsvtfiey 'shotilf have done,
sighed a petition praying for a ginew
aotIofa Incorporation, and that there
mighthe mo mistake about it the
sRke6rderof4thea Borough prepared
81 dFaftof theddesiredalaw, land sent
it with the petition to- Amos iBisl5
Esq, who then represented this
county In tie Legislature, to be laid
before that body, which was done,
and a new act Of. Incorporation, re
peafihg the old one. was passed Feb
ruary 2sth, 1881, to take effect on
first day Of April following. This
law continued IN force with little az
tefationy until repealed by the gen
ieral law regulating municipal corpo-
rations, passed May I'd, 1852, which
converted the Borough INTO the In
corporate Village of Ashtab1lao. lao.sii7a
baArhe growth Of the village untn
lately has not been rapid, but it has
been a steady, healthy advance ia
improvement, business and populal
ton. adIts pepalati6ngin 1880 was
Al l6; In 1870, -; in 1850, e2l; Ia
Ie60,i 4 ,4I9; ina 1870 ,Sa1 ,999, and on
-Octoberl5; 1875 as taken by order
sof the Board of Education, it was
g, ,522; an increase in Eve and one
third years ofsl,523, ,oor 764 per cent
-gfThei first permanent settler in the
ltoiFnship was George BeekWith. He
first resided in Austinburg, and in
the Hinterof 1SO0701, with Messrs.
Mills ahda Stevens, Copened a road
from, that place to Ashtabula creek,
and IN 1903 helremoKed to- AshrabU-
laland loecupiedaa log cabin ON athe
west side of the creek near where
the docks the A. Y.=t FIas-road
now ares iIAIJ aRuafsy, 1S04, he went
to Anstinbnrg to get some sail, and
attempting TO return late IN the day,
persisted With ooIdsa Thisi6was the
first death of a white man in Ashta-
bula, and bis remains filled the first
white MANS grave IN Aastinburg.
"In 18O0,s 0,s's6ys ESQ. Wright in
his narrative of the first settlement
I,of Gonneauty I" Nathan King, Seth
lLEIarring gtonla and myself, marked the
present Ridge road to sAshtabula,
west Of this, village where we met
the people of Harpersfeld similarly
engaged aAW daAH
"The first mail ever brought into
cur settlement, was in 1896, by John
Afetcalff,A Z of Ashtabufa, on horse
back. Six weeks from New York
was not very slow travelling in those
times. The first carriage employed
iafheana1i1 SET vice was about ISL
by Anon Harmon. 1t was a rude
sort of dug-out. Its appearance,
however, created as great an excite
ment as the first v qst9qpPbOat can on the
Hudson. - - ..vs
The old stage route from Erie to
4 Cleveland waslaid out in 1902, by
/ Samuel WheeleE, Eliphalet, Austin
and Solomon eGriswold, who were
commissionersslW. S. Harper struck
kthe first blow fupon the timber OF
Ashtabula Hill
Ashtabula creek,empties into Lake
Erie.in this township, and many OF
the early settlers-in this and other
townships south-ef it, came up the
Lake-in boats-and landed on the
banks of the creek. The mouth OF
this stream was much obstEnctedi
and at times entirely closed by a
sandsbar.
The first boats loaded witbthe rich
freight. of an emigrant's family and
goods which ever entered Ashtabula
creek, SO far as'we-have angSknowl'
edge, were thoss,of Judge sEliphalet
A1stin's company who were moving
to Austinburg he and his Family
coming througff~ on hotse-baek),
These boats, which contained the
i goods of Judge Austin, and the
families and goods Of Messfs. N