The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1959-09-17
On the Western Reserve

Its name derived from Ashta-
bula river, which was Indian
parlance for Fish river" Ashta-
bula county was the first settled
on the Western Reserve and the
earliest in all northern Ohio.
The first to land there were the
So members of the first survey
ing party on the Western Re
serve, July A, 1896, at the mouth
of Conneaut creek. Two of them
were women.
Those stopping there that day
were Moses Cleveland, agent for
the company; Augustus Porter,
head surveyor; Seth Pease, Mos
es Warren, Amos Spafford, Mil
ton Hawley, Richard M. Stod-
dard, surveyors; Joshua Stowe,
commissary; Theodore Shepard,
the doctor; Joseph Tinker, head
boatsman; Joseph Mcintyre,
George Proudfoot, Francis Gay,
Samuel Forbes, Elija. Gum,
Amos Sawten, Stephen Benton,
Amos Barber, Samuel Hunger
ford, William B. Hall, Samuel
Davenport, Asa Mason, Anzi
Atwater, Michael Coffin, Alisha
Ayers, Thomas Harris, Norman
Wilcox, Tim OF by Durham,
George Goodwin, Shadrach Ben
ham, Samuel Agnew, Warham
Shepard, David Beard, John Bri-
ant, Titus Munson, Joseph Lam
don, Job v. Stiles, Charles Park
er, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel
Doan, Luke Hanchet, James
Haskell, James Hamilton, Olney
F. Rice, John Lock and four
others whose names have been
forgotten. The women were the
wives of Stiles and of Gum, the
latter with one child.
Next day the party built a big,
rough log house on the sandy
beach on the east side of the
stream and called it "Stowe Cas-
te," after Stowe, the commits
sary. There the food and supplies
were kept, and some of the per-
sonnel lived. Shortly after the
surveying party James Kings
bury, his wife and family ar
rived at the place and the place
was named Conneaut after the
creek. Conneaut is a Seneca In
dian word and means plenty of
fish"
In September, 1886, the survey
ing party moved on to present
Cuyahoga county and in that
month and October laid off Cleve-
land, naming it after Moses
Cleveland, the land company's
agent. Cuyahoga is an Indian
word and means French house."
A French trading post had been
there in 1755.
When the others went on to
Cleveland Kingsbury and his fam
ly remained - the first perma-
nent residents on the Western
Reserve. The surveyors had TAX
en- their supplies and provisions
with them and that winter was a
hard one for the Kingsburys.
Compelled to leave in the fall
for business trip to New York,
Kingsbury was delaed there by
sickness and it was winter be-
fore he recovered enough to trav-
el. AS soon as he was able he
went as far as Buffalo where he
hired an Indian guide to take
him through the wilderness.
At Presque Isle, anticipating
the wants of his family, Kings
bury bought 20 pounds of flour,
but crossing Elk creek on the
ice his horse was disabled. Leav-
ing the horse in the snow, he
loaded the flour on his own back
and went on with gloomy fore
bodings as to the fate of his
family.
On his arrival late one eve
ming Kingsbury found his worst
fears had turned to real tragedy.
Stretched on her cot lay his |
wife, pale and emaciated and re-
duced by want of food to the
last stages in which life could
be supported. Near his mother, |
on a little pallet lay their young
est son, born in his absence, who |
just had died for want of nour-
ishment which his mother, with |
out food herself, could not sup /
ply. Shut up in gloomy wilder !