THE JOURNAL OF A VERMONT MAN IN OHIO,
1836-18421
edited by LEROY P. GRAF
Professor of History, University of
Tennessee
In 1836, when he was thirty-one, Oren
Wiley left his family and
friends in Saxtons River, Vermont, to
accept employment in a tin
shop in Ohio City, Ohio, a new
settlement located along Lake Erie
on the west side of the Cuyahoga River
opposite Cleveland. Three
years later he moved to Dayton, Ohio,
where he lived until his
return to New England to Greenfield,
Massachusetts, in the middle
1850's.2 While living in Ohio he
visited New England several
times, and in 1844 on one of these
trips he married Harriet Weaver
Banks at Swanzey, New Hampshire. In
1889 at the age of eighty-
three he died in Greenfield.
Wiley wrote the following Journal
during his first six years away
from home. Writing at irregular
intervals, he often recorded events
which had occurred some time before,
though seldom more than a
year had elapsed; often it was a matter
of only a few days. In-
creasingly he used his journal book as
a copybook in which to pre-
serve essays and poems which he
discovered in the daily press or in
Universalist literature. His religious
concern led him not only to
read and copy but also to write both
poems and essays of a religious
or highly moral nature. Several parts
of the Journal here printed
reveal his pious propensities and his
tendency to moralize. Although
most of the moral essays and poems are
omitted, one of his essays,
commenting on the election of 1840, and
a poem glorifying the
mechanic are included because they
offer interesting and even lively
contemporary reactions to matters of
general historical interest.
Wiley's account of his trip to Ohio,
his reactions to Ohio City and
the fight over the Columbus Street
bridge, and his briefly recorded
trips to Detroit and southern Ohio
furnish the particular interest
1 The original of this Journal is in the possession of
Wiley's granddaughter, Mrs.
Louise Wiley McCleary, of Knoxville,
Tennessee, to whom I am indebted for per-
mission to edit and
publish the following material.
2 The
exact date of the return is not available, but family records show that
January 8, 1854, a daughter died
in Dayton and February 24, 1856, another daughter
was born in Greenfield,
Massachusetts. The removal was sometime between these
dates. Family Lineage and Record Book in
possession of Mrs. Louise Wiley McCleary.
175
176 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
of the following Journal. Except for the
omissions noted in the
footnotes, the narrative and descriptive
portions of the Journal are
reproduced here in full.3
JOURNAL OF OREN WILEY
1836-1842
Saxtons River Vermont1
10 o'clock Satturday Morning, August
28th, 1836--Having previously
made arrangements to emigrate to the
State of Ohio, I took passage in [the}
Stage for Saratoga, having in company my
brother Robert,2 Jonas Clark,3
and David Sanborn,4 Esqrs.,
who were bound for Michigan, Illinois, St.
3 The editor has tried to reduce to a
minimum the obstructions to easy reading of
this journal. Punctuation,
capitalization, and paragraphing have been altered wherever
the sense and readability seemed to
require it. Wiley used a kind of dwarf exclama-
tion mark, as well as the more usual
dash, as a substitute for the conventional comma,
period, and semicolon. Frequently he
omitted any punctuation whatsoever, even at the
end of sentences. He was similarly
erratic with respect to capitalization. Though
often beginning a sentence with a small
letter, he consistently capitalized S and M,
a practice which serves to distract the
attention of the modern reader. Both the
original spelling and capitalization for
emphasis have been retained.
1 Saxtons River, a village located near
the center of the southern boundary of
Rockingham Township, was first settled
in 1783, its location being determined by the
existence of three adjacent water power
sites along the river. An indication of the
size of the community is afforded by the
report that there were approximately forty-
five dwellings in 1828, and that in
March 1835, there were two hotels, one meeting
house, three stores, and one tin shop.
In addition to the tin shop, in which, perhaps,
Oren Wiley learned his trade, the
village boasted a sizeable amount of industrial
activity in the vicinity of the three
falls. The several enterprises included two woolen
mills, a grist-mill, a sawmill, a
soapstone mill, a wool pullery, a tan-yard, an iron
foundry, a blacksmith shop, and a
sandpaper factory. Clearly, from childhood Wiley
was familiar with the activities of the
"American Mechanics" whose contributions
he later proclaimed in verse. See below,
p. 198. Lyman S. Hayes, History of the
Town of Rockingham, Vermont,
Including the Villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons
River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and
Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with Family Geneal-
ogies (Bellows Falls, Vt., 1907), 367-369.
2 In
a family of eight, Robert was Oren's next younger brother. Born December 30,
1807, Robert married Sarah Almeda Jones
of Rockingham, Vermont. He died at
Greenfield, Massachusetts, June 22,
1885, and was buried in Saxtons River. Ibid., 790.
3 Possibly Jonas Clark, Jr., who in 1866
was identified as a farmer of Waltham,
Massachusetts. John Clark, Records of
the Descendants of Hugh Clark of Watertown,
Massachusetts. 1640-1866 (Boston, 1866), 132. This Jonas, born October 31, 1807,
to
Jonas and Alice (Wellington) Clark of
Waltham, was the third of ten children. Ibid.,
78. On November 4, 1840, he married
Rachel Smith Bagley, the daughter of John
and Jerusha (Burrows) Bagley of
Brookfield, Vermont. It is possible that Clark,
who was the same age as Robert Wiley,
went with him to see what opportunities
were available in the West. When Robert
returned to Ohio to work for Oren, Clark
may have returned to Vermont to marry
Rachel Bagley and later go back to settle
at home in Waltham.
4 Probably the David Sanborn who was the
fourth child of David and Hannah
Marston Sanborn of Chelsea, Vermont.
Born April 24, 1800, he was a farmer in
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 177
Louis, &c. After having exchanged
the usual salutations of good bye to fifty
or sixty of our old friends of earlier
years who had assembled to witness
our departure, in high spirits we passed
through Grafton, Acton, Townshend.
[In] the latter place we dined. The
weather being very warm and the roads
dry and dusty, we felt ourselves renewed
in spirit. Having resumed our
seat again, we [were] immediately on a
road which I had never traveled
before. The horses jogged slowly up the
hill. The scenery on the right
and left as we passed the winding road
up the mountain side, gave rise to
many pleasing anecdotes which we related
to edify each other. I must
confess I felt no depression of spirits
in consequence of leaving behind
mother, brothers, sisters, and those
native hills which I shall always love.
Nor those sad dejected feelings that
others profess to experience on such
occasions never entered my heart. I had
a concious feeling that I should
be absent but [a] few days only, and
soon should return to the home of
my childhood. Oh, I love to dwell upon
days long long gone by. What pen
ever wearies with retracing its thousand
scenes. Even now methinks I am
wandering again upon the old hill side
whose summit o'er looks the spot
that was once my home in earlier years.5
But enough I am wandering.
Well we at length arrived at the top of
the Green Mountains where we had
a beautiful prospect of the country on
the west, but [I] shall not stop
to make any remarks. We immediately
started off at full speed down the
mountain and arrived at Arlington at a
little after sun down where we
remained all night.
August, 29-Having replaced our baggage
again on board the stage
coach we traveled on through an old
settled country, but I think not very
fertile. We arrived at Union Village
which is very pleasantly situated. Here
I witnessed for the first time in my
life, ladies of the first class riding to
meting in a two horse lumber waggon. Not
very proud, thought I. We
partook of an excellent dinner, then
started. Shortly we came in sight
Vermont and then moved west to settle in
Wisconsin, dying in Rockford, Illinois,
November 1, 1881. His marriage to Rachel
Waldo Leavitt Cummings (1809-1887)
resulted in a family of nine, all of
whom were living in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa,
and vicinity at the end of the century.
V. C. Sanborn, Genealogy of the Family
of Samborne or Sanborn in England and
America, 1194-1898 (Concord, N. H.,
1898),
370-371. From the spacing of the birth
of children it appears that this trip in 1836
was in the nature of a trip to spy out
the land. He was apparently back in Vermont
in 1837, and the family did not move
until after April 1841, when a son was born
in Montpelier, Vermont.
5 Occasionally the Journal reads as
though it had been written many years after
the events which it records. It is my
opinion that Wiley's sentimentality led him
to exaggerate his distance from home
both in time and space. Probably he wrote the
first portion of the account nearly a
year after his departure from home, but the later
portions of the Journal seem to have
been written at the time of the events they
report.
178 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
of the Hudson River which we passed by
horse boat-the water about three
feet deep [with a] beautiful white
gravely bottom. We immediately ascended
high banks on the west on which is
situated Schuylersville, a neat little
village. Thence over a dry, sandy,
rolling country till at length we arrived
at the plain where the memorable battle
was so nobly fought Oct. 17th,
1777,6 in which the proud and haughty
John Burgoyne was compelled to
deliver up his sword to the brave sons
of New England, and be marched off
the field to the tune of Yankee
Doodle. Our driver merely pointed out the
old entrenchment, the form in which the
two armies were drawn up, and we
passed along. Arrived at Saratoga [at]
six o'clock P.M. Found it a beautiful
place. Elegant buildings pleasantly
situated. Our Landlord at the Inn [in]
which we stopped was very pleasant, and
finally everything [was] pleasant
except the water, and that I abhor.
August, 30th--Having some business to
transact at Albany which would
detain me a short time, Mr. Sanborn and
myself left Saratoga at six o'clock.
Took seats in [the] Rail Road7 car
[and] arrived at Troy8 in time for
breakfast (rather late of the two) [sic]
distance thirty-two miles. Was much
pleased with the city. Buisness appeared
lively. I beheld with wonder for
the first time the North River
Steamboats. After surveying what curiosities
I met with here for an hour or two, we
took stage for Albany.9 I cannot
say much for Albany in point of beauty
nor neatness, although she has some
fine streets and elegant buildings and
is a place of great trade. We accom-
plished our business and took passage on
[the] Rail Road10 for Schenectady.
Arrived there same afternoon [at] five
o'clock. Brother Robert and J. Clark,
Esqr., came same day from Saratoga and
met us here at same time. So here
we are all together again.
'Tis astonishing to behold the
multitudes of emigrants all bound for
the far west. We among the swarms of
human beings arround us took
passage on a Line Boat11 bound for
Buffalo. Paid seventy-five cents per
hundred for our merchandise and eight
dollars and thirty-three cents fare
for ourselves and found [that] here we
were assailed by the agents and
6 Battle of Saratoga.
7 According to Disturnell, in 1836 this
trip was made on the Saratoga and Schenec-
tady Railroad from Saratoga to Ballston
Spa seven miles away, then on the Rensselaer
and Saratoga Railroad via Mechanicsville
and along the Champlain Canal and Hudson
River to Troy. J. Disturnell, comp., The
Traveller's Guide Through the State of New
York, Canada.... (New York, 1836), 42.
8 Population
16,959, according to the New York state census for 1835. Ibid., 68.
9 Population 28,109, according to New
York state census for 1835. Ibid., 68.
10 Fifteen miles on the Mohawk and
Hudson Railroad, whose terminus was near
the junction with the Erie Canal. Ibid.,
42.
11 The "line," or regular,
boats carried both freight and passengers and traveled
at a speed of about two miles an hour,
whereas the packet, or swift, canal boat was
exclusively for passengers and kept a
day and night speed of from three to four
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 179
captains of the canal boats, and those
who could make the most noise and
bustle and obtain the most passengers
were the best fellows. We found a
pleasant company on board our boat,
although they were continually coming
aboard and leaving our boat at the
several stopping places. I found traveling
on the canal pleasant and in fine
weather delightful. We were continually
passing villages, farms, locks,
aqueducts, or boats, and these with the
company afforded an agreeable variety.
When I wished for exercise I would
jump ashore and take a walk along the
hard trod tow path. The canal
passes over an extent of country much
more rough, broken, and hilly than
I had supposed. Long levels of the canal
are to be found to be sure, but
they are made at great expense by
filling up deep gullies, winding round
the sides of hills or deep cuts through
them, and by walling up by the
side of [valleys], or aqueducts over
them.
Every few miles the canal passes through
a village. Many of these have
sprung into existance since the
completion of the canal, and others have
much improved in size, wealth, and
beauty. They are all ornamented with
grog shops containing among other
miscellaneous matter a supply of boat
stores. Little Falls is a romantic place
to the lover of nature. The water here
is compressed into a narrow space, is
recived into a large basin, and rolls
down a precipitous ravine of many feet
in depth and presents to the eye a
most romantic appearance. Some of the
topmost crags overhanging [sic] the
stream, and here and there a hardy tree
having gained a foothold in the
crevices of the rock throws its branches
athwart the abyss.
After passing many fine villages, we at
last arrived at the city of
Rochester.12 It is indeed a
large and flourishing city. It is situated on both
sides of the Genesee River, is well
built mostly [of] brick. Near the upper
part of the city the canal crosses the
river [on] a splendid aqueduct of red
free stone, eight hundred and four feet
in length having eleven arches
elevated fourteen feet above the common
level of the water. While the
boat stopped I went down the river to see
the great falls. They are about
eighty rods below where the canal
crosses, and are ninety-seven feet in
perpendicular height. Here Sam
Patch13 made his last leap in the autumn
miles an hour. Fares on packet boats
were from one to two cents a mile higher than on
line boats. Seymour Dunbar, A History
of Travel in America.... (4 vols., In-
dianapolis, 1915), III, 850-852.
See also Illustration 179, ibid., II, 602.
12 In
1835 a population of 14,404. Disturnell, op. cit., 68.
13 Famous among his contemporaries for
his daredevil jumps from bridges and
high places, including Goat Island into
the Niagara River below the falls, Patch
began his jumping career in 1827 and
ended it at Genesee Falls in November 1829,
when something happened during his dive
from a scaffold erected over the brink
of the falls, and before a horrified
crowd he plummeted into the river below. His
body was not found until the following
March, when it appeared at the mouth of the
river frozen in a cake of ice. Dictionary
of American Biography, XIV, 291-292.
180 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
of 1829 poor fellow! He must have had a
tremendous jumping bump.
I walked down to the dizzy brink and
looked down into the awful chasm
below. If any one is inclined to be a
little nervous, perhaps they had
better be cautious not [to] go very near
the edge. After traveling from this
place sixty-three miles we found
ourselves at Lockport on the mountain
ridge. At this place the canal has a double
row of locks adjacent to each
other, five for ascending and five for
descending, each twelve feet deep
making the ascent sixty feet. This is
the most admirable work of the whole
canal. Between the two rows of locks are
stone steps guarded on each side
by iron railings. In 1821 there were
here but two houses. Now there are
over four hundred, and it is a very
pleasant village.14 After traveling nineteen
miles, the first three of which was
through a deep cut of lime stone from
twenty to thirty feet deep till we came
in full view of the majestic Niagara
River. On the margin of this stream the
canal passes by the village of Black
Rock to its termination at the city of
Buffalo.
The city of Buffalo15 is
beautifully situated on Lake Erie near the
outlet, and possesses the advantage of a
lake and canal navigation. It is
built chiefly of brick containing many
elegant buildings. In the harbor lay
many vessels, steam and canal boats, and
it exhibited all the show, stir,
bustle and noise of a maritime city.
From this place you have a fine view
of the Lake Canada shore and the
surrounding country. I was at [the]
time only twenty-three miles from the
celebrated Falls of Niagara, but I
was compelled [to be] thus so near
without going to see them. Monday
morning, September 4, I took passage on
board Steam Boat Gen. Porter16
bound for Cleveland, Ohio. We had not
proceeded far before the breeze
grew fresher and we dashed swiftly along
over the foaming billows. I
began to feel myself almost in a new
world. The strange scenery arround
me as the view of the land faded away
and the vision was bounded on
every side by the unchanging blue of the
Heavens above or the waters
beneath, the rolling and tossing of our
boat were yet so different from any
thing that I had ever before been
accustomed to, that my mind was so
confused that it almost seemed like a
dream. We had proceeded but twenty
or twenty-five miles before the piston
gave way which rendered the engine
useless. However we were not to remain
long in this dialema. The wind
blowing a fresh breeze from the rising
of the sun enabled us by unfurling
14 Gordon
estimated the number of dwellings at 500. Thomas F. Gordon, Gazeteer
of the State of New York. . . . (Philadelphia, 1836), 558.
15 In 1835 it had a population of
15,661. Disturnell, op. cit., 68.
16 Built at Black Rock in 1834, the
342-ton steamer was remodeled into the
Canadian propeller Toronto in
1843. J. B. Mansfield, ed. and comp., History of
the Great Lakes (2 vols., Chicago, 1899), I, 874.
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 181
all sail to waft our bark with safety
into the harbor of Dunkirk17 forty-five
miles south west of Buffalo. We had
between six and seven hundred
passengers on board all of which were
compelled to find a shelter in a
little village unprepared to receive one
fourth that number. As soon as
our boat reached the wharf every one
started on his own hook. He that
could find a home first was the best
fellow. I found [it] necessary to
remain on the boat a short time in order
to secure my freight. I then made
it my next business to seek a home for
the night if a home was to be found,
as the boat was to be towed back to
Buffalo the same evening. I went to
almost every house in the village before
I could even find a space of six
square feet that was not already
engaged. However we at last found a
shelter. A wretched hovel it truly was,
but I always feel disposed to make
the best of every thing when I am
traveling. I remained here thirty-six hours
before I could obtain a passage to
Cleveland, in consequence of the countless
multitudes that were daily embarking for
the west. We were fortunate
enough to get on board the Columbus18
which is [a] first rate boat. Touched
at Erie and Fairport, and finally
arrived at Cleveland nine o'clock at night,
Sept the 6th 1836--
I was fortunate enough to find a
tolerable good public house, and lay
my wearied limbs down to rest for the
first night in the State of Ohio.
Cleveland is situated on a high, level,
sandy plain between [the] Cuyahoga
River and Lake Erie, and presents a
commanding view from the Lake, and
contains seven thousand inhabitants19
many of whom are French, Irish,
Swiss, and Negroes. Much business is
done here, and [it] probably always
will be one of the most important towns
on the southern shore of Lake
Erie, as it possesses a safe harbor for
the steam boat navigation and is a
half way place between Buffalo and
Detroit, two hundred miles from the
former and one hundred and thirty miles
from the latter. Its public buildings
are a court house, jail, accademy, Young
Ladies Seminary, council house,
two banks, one called the bank of Lake
Erie the other the bank of Cleve-
17 In 1836 it was reported to have about
sixty dwellings. Gordon, op. cit., 385.
18 A 391-ton steamer, the Columbus was built in Huron, Ohio, in
1835 and
wrecked at Dunkirk in 1848. Mansfield, op.
cit., I, 811.
19 Seven thousand, the figure
given in Warren Jenkins, The Ohio Gazeteer, and
Traveller's Guide. . . . (Columbus, 1841), 126, is copied from the 1837
edition.
It may be a good estimate in view of the
flood of newcomers who came into the
West during 1835-37. According to
Kennedy, between March 15, 1836, and November
28 of the same year a total of 1,901
vessels arrived in Cleveland. Most certainly those
coming from the East brought large
numbers of settlers. James H. Kennedy, A History
of the City of Cleveland. . . . (Cleveland,
1896), 264. Census statistics reported
5,080 in August 1835, and only 6,071 in
the federal census of 1840. Elijah Peet,
comp., Peet's General Business
Directory of the City of Cleveland, for the Years
1846-7 .... (Cleveland, 1846), 42.
182 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
land, Presbyterian, Episcopalian,
Baptist, Methodist, Universalist, and Roman
Catholic churches, and a seamen's
chapel. It is well laid out and has some
fine streets and elegant buildings. On
the river are many mean buildings,
and rather too many grog shops among
them, and a good deal too much
noise and disipation. The taverns are
not generally under the best regula-
tions although they were crowded to overflowing.
Cleveland has suffered
much from disease.20 Fever,
ague, and cholera has swept off its hundreds.
But it is difficult to discover any
other cause for the great number of deaths
than that the filthiness of the place
and the disipation and exposure of
many of its inhabitants. Oh, it needs
reform!
Sept. 7th--Ohio City is situated in the
township of Brooklyn bordering
immediately on the west of Cleveland,
the Cuyahoga River only separating
them. It is situated on a high, dry,
barren plain formerly covered with white
oak shrubs. Possessing many advantages
of steam boat navigation and ex-
cellent water, it came into existance
about the year eighteen hundred thirty-
two or thirty-three.21 It now
contains about two thousand inhabitants.
There are a number of elegant brick
buildings three and four stories high.
There are but two churches finished,
Presbyterian and Baptist. Two more
new are now building, one Episcopalian,
the other Methodist, the former
of beautiful sand stone, the latter of
brick. Both bid fair to be completed
in [a] few month[s]. There is a goodeal
of ambition and enterprise among
its inhabitants, but I fear some of the
plans are visionary. Rents are scarce
and dear. Much too high to remain long.
I can see nothing that will warrant
the merchant or mechanic to pay such
abominable prices but a short time.
The rage of speculation probably
produces it all. Board in private families
[is] from three to four dollars and a
half per week. Previous to my leaving
Saxtons River I had engaged to come to
this place and take the charge of a
Tin Shop for Otis Haven,22 Esqr.,
for one year for which I was to have a
20 In
1832 the arrival of soldiers from Lake Huron inaugurated a cholera siege
in which approximately fifty people
died. Again in 1834 there were more deaths
from cholera. These recent events appear
to have been the only basis for Wiley's
generalization, since on the whole the
location was a healthful one. Kennedy, op. cit.
243, 245.
21 Ohio City was incorporated March 3,
1836. The following year it was estimated
to have 370 houses and a population of
around 2,400. Julius P. B. MacCabe, as
Directory of the Cities of Cleveland
and Ohio, for the Years 1837-38. . . .
(Cleve
land, 1837), 123, 125. The figures for
the census of 1840 cite the population as
a mere 1,577. 6th Census or
Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States was
Corrected at the Department of State
in 1840 (Washington, 1841), 301.
22 Probably the son of Abel and Rachel (French) Haven of Dummerston,
Vermont
who had eight children, the last two
being Otis and Abel (1799-1864), Wiley's
employers of the firm of O. and A.
Haven, tinsmiths, on "Detroit Street below
Pearl Street," Ohio City. According
to the slender information available, Otis
married Frances Bradbury of Vergennes
[Vt.?]; and Abel, on May 18, 1820, married
A Vermont Man in Ohio,
1836-1842 183
salary of three hundred and sixty
dollars and be boarded. Having now
arrived at the place of my destination
and being destitute of a solitary friend
in whom I had ever been acquainted with
[I] began to look about me to
discover the object of my mission. I
had refference to the firm of Messrs
Ward & Smith,23 forwarding
merchants on the wharf. They of course were
my first enquiry. I went immediately to
their office and obtained the necessary
information respecting Mr. Haven and
found him located in Ohio City
on the west side of the river.24
Sept. 8th--I commenced business with my
employer and remained with
him one full year.25 On
settlement I found that I had been absent but seven
days during the year from my business.
In the course of the fall months of
Oct. and Nov. of this year26 a
controversy arose between Ohio City and
Cleveland. The difficulties arrose from
a bridge27 that was built across the
Cuyahoga River at the most southerly
point of the City of Cleveland, on
the principal road leading to the
state's capital, and was every [sic] calculated
to take the travel from Ohio City and
forward it to Cleveland. This was
Maria Miller, daughter of William and
Hannah Miller of Dummerston. On April 28,
1838, Wiley bought out Otis' interest in
the firm, which continued to operate under
the name of Haven and Wiley. The
following year on July 30, 1839, Abel and his
family left Cleveland for the East.
Evidence is lacking to show whether they went
directly back to Dummerston, but Abel
was later identified as Deacon Haven of the
Dummerston Congregational Church. One of
his daughters, Maria, married William
Fuller of Brooklyn, Ohio. Having sold
out to Wiley in 1838, Otis Haven reappeared
in the summer of 1839 when Abel left for
the East. In partnership with Otis, Wiley
moved his business activities to Dayton,
Ohio, in September 1839. David L. Mansfield,
"Dummerston," in Abby M.
Hemenway, ed., The Vermont Historical Gazeteer; a
Local History of All the Towns in the
State. .... (Brandon, Vt., 1891), V,
33-34.
23 A
commission and forwarding firm at numbers 1 and 2 Dock Street which faced
the wharf along the river. MacCabe, op.
cit., 97.
24 O. and A. Haven and Company, tin,
sheet iron, and stove dealers located on
Detroit Street below Pearl. Ibid., 129.
25 This sentence seems to indicate that
he was writing during the fall of 1837, a
year after the events which he describes
in the following pages.
26 1836. As a newcomer in September
1836, Wiley does not seem to have been
aware that the friction over the
Columbus Street bridge had broken out in May
1836. W.P.A., Ohio, Annals of
Cleveland, 1818-1935.... (Cleveland, 1938), XVIII-
XIX (1835-36), 132.
27 In
1833 James S. Clark and associates began a land development project on the
southern edge of Cleveland, along both
sides of the Cuyahoga. Two years later they
received permission to build a bridge
which they presented to the city with the
sole proviso that it be kept toll free.
This bridge served both to increase the value
of the Columbus Street properties on
both sides of the river and to divert the trade
of the farmers living southwest of the
city to a new market center, the Farmers'
Block, built at Ontario and Prospect by
the promoters. This trade had previously
passed through Ohio City. As though the
new bridge were not sufficiently harmful
to Ohio City interests, the Cleveland
City Council, alleging obstruction of the naviga-
tion, voted to destroy its half of the old floating
bridge which had served to connect
the cities at Detroit Street. Bridges of Cleveland
and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland,
1918), 26; Elbert J. Benton, Cultural
Story of an American City, Cleveland (3 vols.,
Cleveland, 1943-46), II, 22-24.
184 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
too much for the infant city to endure.
It was soon ascertained that fair
means was to no purpose.28 Foul
followed next. It was on a pleasant after-
noon in the month of Oct. All the
bravest wariors being assembled and
after lending a listening ear to a
number of stump speeches from the greatest
talent that the city could produce,
[they] gave a war whoop and immediately
repaired to the so much accursed bridge
for the purpose of entirely battering
it from its foundation. I think [that]
about one hundred men volunteered
their services. Among the number was the
presbyterian Priest29 and [he]
could be seen urging the wariors on to
battle. They commenced their work
of destruction by hewing off the
principal timbers and thus let the bridge
fall from its foundation to the water below.30 Perseverence
universally
prevailed. The fate of the bridge for a
time looked like inevitable ruin.
Entirely destitute of all opposition and
backed up in their glorious cause
by all the farming interest in the back
part of the town, nought but sucess
appeared to attend their victorious
arms. Thus things for a time went on,
but their prosperity was of short
duration. The war bugle's note was sounded
clear and shrill throughout Cleveland.
All were in arms, as much so as if the
fate of the city had depended on [the]
bridge for its salvation. A formidable
force was immediately raised, armed with
rifles, pistoles, dirks, boaknives,
axes, clubs, and brickbats. Thus led on
by the Sheriff of the county, Ohio
City forces were ordered to disperse
instantly, which they promptly refused
to do.31 The Provincials still continued
their work of destruction. At length
when it was ascertained that threats
were to no purpose, the party from
28 When Ohio City residents began to build a new bridge at Detroit Street,
the
Cleveland authorities intervened to
prevent them. Under these circumstances, on the
night of May 27, 1836, the southern draw
to the old bridge was cut away and the
road approaching it was obstructed by
logs and brush, all at the prompting of the
council of Ohio City. The Cleveland City
Council repaired the bridge only to have
another attempt made on it just before
daylight on the 4th of July, when a keg of
powder was blown up under the bridge,
doing, however, little damage. Annals of
Cleveland, XVIII-XIX, 132, 178-179. Wiley's account, while
capturing the spirit
of the dispute, does not provide a
dependable picture of events prior to his owr
appearance on the scene.
29 The Rev. Dr. Pickands. W. Scott Robison, ed., History of the City of
Cleve
land. . . . (Cleveland, 1887), 43.
30 A contemporary description of the bridge appeared in
MacCabe's Director
of 1837. It was "supported by a
stone abutment on either shore and piers of soli??,
masonry erected in the center of the
river. Between the piers there is a draw
sufficient to allow a vessel of
forty-nine feet beam to pass through. The length is two
hundred feet, the breadth, including the
sidewalks, thirty-three feet, and the height
of the piers, above the surface of the
water may be estimated at twenty-four fee
The whole, with the exception of the
draw, is roofed and enclosed." Quoted i??
Bridges of Cleveland and Cuyahoga
County, 27.
31 Wiley's
version disagrees with the report in the Cleveland Herald, which
minimized the number of Clevelanders
involved in this affray and indicated a rela-
tively prompt dispersal of the Ohio City
mob upon the arrival of the sheriff. Anna
of Cleveland, XVIII-XIX, 133.
A Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 185
Cleveland made a desperate rush and
commenced throwing stones and
brickbats, which was returned by the
opposite party in a most violent
manner. Stones, brickbats, clubs, and
axes were hurled back and forth in
a manner that would make an eastern man
shudder to witness the scene.
At last a man from Cleveland received a
brickbat in the side of the head.
He drew his pistol and fired. The smell
of gunpowder seemed to increase
the tiger like disposition that
prevailed. The word was given to fire which
was obeyed instantly. Fortunately none
were killed, but a number were
severely wounded.32 As soon
as the rifles were discharged the opposite
party made a rush upon their opponents
and wrenched their deadly weapons
from them, broke them to attoms and
threw them into the river where
they must always remain. Eight first
rate rifles were thus destroyed in a few
minutes besides quite a number of
pistols. One man from Ohio City had
a ball pass through his side, another
received a ball in the neck, and a
number was wounded with shot. Thus some
were wounded, some were
knocked over with stones, others were
beaten with clubs in a most savage
manner. On the whole both parties
appeared like a bloody set of savages.
Both parties withdrew from the field of
battle, the bridge left on its
foundation and neither party conquered,
but both got most severely whipped.
Two men [on] our side were seized and
carried to Cleveland, thrown into
jail, remained till next day. I call it
our side because I reside in Ohio City,
but I took no part on either side
whatever.
Next came a long train of persecutions.
Large numbers on both sides
were arrested, tried, and bond over to
appear at the Court of Common Pleas.
I shall not follow out all the
particulars of the law suits. Suffise it to say
that all the law amounted to no certain
satisfaction to either party. Every
individual was awake. All was
excitement. Some began to reflect a little
in regard to the course they had pursued
in asserting their rights and at the
same time was censured most severely by
his neighbor for manifesting a
treacherous disposition. Thus things
went on for a few days. All was
suspense. Both citties immediately
established a city watch every night for
the safety of its inhabitants and
property. All were expecting every night
that buildings would be fired. Attempts
were made in several cases, but
was discovered before it had made much
progress. I am here alone in
this strange world. Strange world
indeed!33
At length the time arrived when both
parties were anxious to put an
32 The Cleveland Herald reported
that only two or three were wounded, but
possibly this did not take into account the Ohio City
toll. Ibid.
33 Different ink and a slight change in
writing reveal that at this point Wiley
evidently stopped writing and resumed
his story later.
186 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
end to their dificulties if possible,
and at the same time have it settled
in an amicable manner. It was finally
concluded that it might be the most
prudent, the most honerable course that
could be pursued to have it done
by treaty. Accordingly the two citties
appointed their commissioners to act
in conjunction when met at the appointed
day. At length the time arrived.
Committees came together but to no
purpose. [They] could not agree.
Finally the happy meting was closed
without accomplishing any business
whatever.--Accordingly on the following
night the good people of both
parties were arroused from their
midnight slumbers by what they termed
an earthquake. [I] presume manny old
ladies were shockingly alarmed.
Don't know how they spent the remainder
of the night. Finally a beautiful
morning appeared. When lo, every eye was
turned towards the bridge.
It appeared that some unknown person or
persons had removed some of the
outer stones on the principal butment or
pier and deposited one keg of
gunpowder where it was calculated it
would demolish the bridge. But
their plans were frustrated in part. The
business was not despatched in such
a manner as they had eagerly hoped it
would be. However the pier looked
as though it had had a shake of the fever
and ague, but still the bridge re-
mained firm on its foundation. Cleveland
was again enraged, if possible
worse than ever. What was to be done?
Who blew up the bridge knowbody
knew. Next thing necessary was to
establish a watch to guard the bridge
against the midnight assassin, which was
immediately done. There the
poor sentinel could be seen pacing the
lines from the evening shades to the
cock's crow in the morning. Thus things
passed on for a few weeks when
all at length became quiet, the sentinel
withdrawn, but the disputed
question not settled.
Shocking to relate we were all visited
again by another tremendous earth
quake but not to alarm the people as
they were very common at that day.34
I say we were visited by another
tremendous earth quake or an eruption of
some kind. It seemed as if Mount
Vesuvious itself had been in the vicinity
belching out her heated lava. It could
not have produced such an echo in
the stillness of the night. Three
explosions took place in succession in the
course of the night. Take care poor
bridge, thought I. Morning came and
behold the bridge stood firm on its
foundation. Its walls were impregnable
'Tis true the pier on [the] Ohio City
side had undergone some change
The kegs of powder that had exploded in
its bosom could not be kept
confined, therefore [they] did little
execution. One large cleft of a rock
34 When
reporting an attempt to blow up the bridge on June 5, 1837, the Cleveland
Herald and Gazette commented that this was the fifth or sixth time it had
been tried
Annals of Cleveland, XX (1837), 39.
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 187
was carried quite across the river and
entered the side of a two story house
and lodged some where in the lower
rooms. I did not think it prudent to
make much inquiry in regard to the
dimentions of the stone, but it beat a
hole into the [wall] about half the size
of a common glass window-
wonder what they thought. This last
affair brought both parties to fair and
honerable terms. Commissioners again met,
and Cleveland acknowledged
the demand made by Ohio City to be a
just one, that is that the latter city
should have the privilege of building a
bridge across the Cuyahoga River
to be located immediately between the
two places and let the personal
feelings and interest that existed for
the upper bridge be disposed of for
what they would fetch. It was finally
agreed that Cleveland should be at
one half the expense of building and
keeping in repair a new bridge and all
past difficulties should be settled for
ever. Thus ended a long and bloody
quarrel. All was anxious to bury the
hatchet. A new float bridge is [to be]
thrown across the Cuyahoga.35 All
are accomodated, all are pleased, all are
satisfied, all is peace. For myself, I
can say I feel happy to see the olive
branch held out as a manifestation of
their feelings. Not beings [sic]
acquainted with such wars in my earlier
years, I cannot say I relish them
very well.-Rest assured whoever you are
that it is no desirable sight to see
two parties, neighbors as it were,
combatting with each other, hurling
brickbats, stones, and clubs, then
taking deliberate aim upon the rifle.
An eastern man would be astonished to
see the flood of emigration con-
stantly pouring onward to the far west.
'Tis immense! No calculation can
be made of the number that are daily
embarking to their new homes in the
western wild. The western world is all
alive. The lakes, the streams, the
prairies and forests are all teeming
with life and exhibit all the noise and
bustle of human industry and enterprise.
The birds and beasts of the forests
are continually alarmed at the sight of
human habitations and villages so
suddenly arriving within their own
haunts and pleasure grounds.
Before a man with his family makes up
their minds to emigrate to a
new, unsettled, and distant country, he
ought well to consider the subject.
Emigration like matrimony ought to be
fully considered, as a bad move
in this particular is attended by many
evils and cannot be remedied. In
the first place it is the best way to
let well enough alone. If an individual
be well settled in life, has profitable
employment, well supports himself
and family, and gains a little every year,
dwells in an agreeable neighborhood,
35 At the end of August 1837 the two
cities began negotiations which brought an
end to the conflict. In early November a
free ferry at the Detroit-Superior site pre-
ceded the construction of the floating
bridge. Ibid., XX, 40, 61. Benton remarks that
one result of the Battle of the Bridges
was to postpone the union of the two cities
for nearly two decades. Op. cit., II,
24.
188 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
has the privilege of sending his
children to school, and of attending public
worship, why should he wish to remove?
Why should he wish to go into
the wilderness, endure the fatigues of a
long journey and the many hardships
and deprivations necessarily attendant
upon a removal to the most favored
spot in the New World? This life is too
short and uncertain to be spent
in making doubtful experiments. It is
wise to live where we can be most
useful and happy ourselves, and where we
have the fairest prospect of
rendering others so with whom we are
connected. But the young man who
has no lucrative employment, and the
married man who has to labor hard
to gain a scanty subsistance for himself
and family would do well to go
to the rich prairies of the South or
West. He ought to be careful not to
go too much elated with the prospect
before him, for disappointment,
fatigue, and suffering most assuredly
awaits him. It is not a light thing
to travel with a family and goods two or
three thousand miles. He ought
to accustom his mind to dwell upon
hardships and suffering before he
commences his journey.
But on his arrival at his location in
the new world however fine, rich,
and elegant the situation may be, he
will feel disappointed and sad. This
is perfectly natural and although some
may have too much pride to acknowl-
edge it, yet they all have a strangeness
of feeling pervading their breasts
that is sometimes painful in the
extreme. Perhaps the emigrant had never
before traveled far from the smoke of
his father's dwelling and had spent
his life hitherto in the neighborhood
where he was born and where his
early and inocent attachments were
formed. He now finds himself in a
new country far away from the
ever-to-be-remembered scenes of his child-
hood, and he looks abroad upon the world
around him in sadness of heart,
for it is a world however beautiful it may
be that is a stranger to him and
with which he has no sympathy. Not to
feel under such circumstances as
these indicates something more or less
than man. And this strange and
lonely feeling is hardly softened down
and mitigated by the well known
fact that his new location is far
superior to the one he left. The inhabitants
of Nantucket are proverbially attached
to that Island of sand and are dis-
contented and unhappy in the most
fertile towns and beautiful villages
on the continent. The emigrant ought to
think of all these things before he
leaves his native village. But when he
become[s] located in the new world,
it will not do to shrink back and
despond. He must brace himself to the
task before him and cheer up his family
who in fact need some cheering
for exchanging a well built house and
pleasant associates for the rude log
hut and wild beasts of the forests. They
will all soon become acquainted
with the new world and form new
associations. A well built house will
A Vermont Man in Ohio,
1836-1842 189
soon take the place of the rude log hut,
and emigrants will settle near him
to whom he will become attached. The
rich fields will produce an abundant
harvest and large flocks of cattle will
be seen feeding on the luxuriant
grass. He will soon gain a competency,
live at ease and become contented
and happy.--36
Nothing further happened in the course
of the fall worthy of notice.
All things went on rather pleasantly.
The autumnal month[s] of this year
were beautiful in the extreme. Merry
Christmas arrived very little noticed.
A small part of the inhabitants only
seemed to join in celebrating the joyous
occasion. Oh, how long will an
enlightened land be swayed by sectarian
bigotry! But a brighter era is dawning
on the human mind.37 The sun of
Christianity is still rising upward and
exerting its powerful influence on
the affections of men. Its light is
still increasing and directing the sight
of man to those hitherto unperceived
objects which are most worthy of his
admiration and praise. Moral Power hitherto
almost unknownd and unknamed
and the splendor of glory and
righteousness remain to be seen by man,
to be felt and appreciated by his affections
and understanding, to win from
him the brightest and purest praise his
whole nature ever yet paid to any
object around him. The sun of
Righteousness is rising higher and higher
in the horizon, and though some of our
Christian brethren may dread
burning wrath and destruction from its
rays, we can assure them, from the
past, as well as from the Holy Writ, there
is healing and healing only in
its beams. Enemy after enemy submits to
the power of the cross and falls
a willing captive and obedient subject at
the feet of the Saviour of the
world. Soon the kingdoms of this world
will become the kingdoms of
God and his Christ. Soon the knowledge
of God which is life eternal
will fill and direct all minds. And soon
the moral power of the Spiritual
government will fill every bosom with
the reign of truth and love, with
righteousness, joy, and peace in the
Holy Ghost. Then death and him that
was the power of death, that is the Devil
and sin which is the sting of
death, will be destroyed. Hell (or the place
of all the dead) will give up
its subjects to his power. All who die
in Adam will be made alive in Christ
and all mankind be the children of God
being the children of the resurrec-
tion. For he must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet, till all
things are subjected by a moral
subjugation to the moral government his
father hath given him, till every being
in the universe, God only excepted,
36 Again there is evidence of an
interruption in the writing. The fall referred to
in the next passage is apparently the
fall of 1836.
37 The following passage affords a
sample of the pious moralizing to which Wiley
was addicted. Of a similar character are a number of
original poems and essays
which have been omitted in this publication.
190 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
is obedient to his requirements of love,
right, and truth. And then will he
deliver up his power, his commission of
universal dominion to God the
Father of all and become himself a
subject of that head, thus planting the
last great star of glory and honor in
the everlasting crown of his fame.38
Jany, 1837. Happy New Year was ushered
in with unusual good feelings.
The first day of Jany was all life and
mirth. The Gent[lemen] made many
quite a grand display calling on the
fashionable Ladies and taking a cup
of hot coffee or a glass of Old Port.
If I mistake not the Ladies are quite
too generous in their manner of
treatment towards the Gent[lemen].
At any rate if the Gent[lemen] of this
city are destitute of self govern-
ment, I think the Ladies had much better
keep their wine on their shelves,
and their husbands would appear much
better in a public street towards
the close of the day--
.
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . .39
At 2 o'clock the 21 of June, 1837, I
took passage on board [the] Steam
Boat (Sandusky)40 bound for Detroit. We
arrived at Huron41 at 6 o'clock
[the] same afternoon. Night soon
overtook us after leaving this port. I
can say no more of my excursion till
daylight next morning, as we were
wrapt immediately in midnight darkness
and nought could be seen or heard
but raging billows that surrounded us on
every side. Dark and gloomy
appeared the curtains of night when
confined to these narrow limits. No
human habitation was visible to the eye.
No foot steps of man were to be
seen in which we might be enabled to
guide our vessel on with safety. No
guide, no beacon light did I say? Yes,
we had the broad expanse of the
heavens which never fails the marriner
to direct us with safety into our
destined haven. At day light next
morning, June 22, I stepped upon deck
and found we were in the majestic
Detroit River stemming a current of
three or four miles an hour. We soon
came in sight of Maiden, an old
French Town on Canada side twenty miles
below Detroit. This place bears
the marks of some ancient relics. Every
thing in and about the place has
the appearance of being very ancient. I
did not learn anything in regard
38 There is evidence of a lapse in
time between the writing of this and the succeeding
passage.
39 A poem, "Friendship,"
copied from an old paper and dated June 12, 1837, is
omitted.
40 A
377-ton steamer built in Sandusky in 1834 and burned in Buffalo in 1843.
It was then reconstructed as a bark,
which was lost in 1845. Mansfield, op. cit., I, 884.
41 Forty-seven
miles from Cleveland, Huron was a growing port and shipbuilding
center--"where more steam boats and
lake vessels are built than at any other port
of the west end of the lake"-with a
population estimated at around twelve hundred.
Stages left daily for Columbus and
Cincinnati. Jenkins, op. cit., 234. From Huron to
Detroit was eighty-two miles. Oliver G.
Steele, Steele's Western Guide Book. . . .
(5th ed., Buffalo, 1836), 14.
A Vermont Man in Ohio,
1836-1842 191
to its history otherwise than that it
was settled by the French at a very
early period. This place has been famos
for military posts during every
eventful period of the history of our
contry. I visited the remains of the
old Fort that the Hon. Richard M.
Johnston42 [sic] had in his possession dur-
ing our last war with England. This is
the memorable spot in which Col.
Johnson did on the 5 of Oct., 1813, lead
on a volunteer force of brave
Kentuckians against the celebrated
savage warior Tecumseh. Here was the
bravery displayed by the Patriot Johnson
that has always so indelibly stamped
his character. Here he won for himself
laurels which the people have since
placed upon his head and will to the
latest posterity be worn as a crown of
glory. The destroyer time has almost
leveled the old Fort with the surround-
ing earth, yet memory will always hold
it dear. We passed along and
arrived at Detroit at seven o'clock
A.M.43
Being an entire stranger, not a solitary
individual with whom I had the
least acquaintance, I immediately
proceeded to the American House,44
where I was provided with an excellent
breakfast. This house I could
recommend as a home to the wayfareing
man. Immediately after my arrival
in the city it commenced raining and
continued pouring down in torents
during the day. In consequnc [sic] of
the heavy rains and muddy streets,
I could learn but little respecting the sittuation
of the place other wise
than that they had mud in any
quantity.45 Detroit is a place of great trade
and fast improving in size & wealth.
I had some business to transact for
Otis Haven, Esqr., which I accomplished
and then made what discoveries
I could in the course of the day. The
general appearance of the city [is]
such that it would strike a New England
man with disgust at the first sight.
42 Johnson and his exploits in the War
of 1812 had recently been in the public
eye as a result of the presidential
election of 1836, in which he was the successful
vice presidential candidate on the
Democratic ticket with Van Buren.
43 Detroit in the mid-1830's was a
bustling place with a large transient population
en route from New England and New York
to the prairies of Illinois and beyond. To
serve this fluctuating population, the
city boasted 4 hotels, 4 banks (with a capital
of $2,250,000), 27 dry-goods stores, 25
grocery and provision stores, 10 commission
houses, 14 hardware stores, 7 clothing
stores, 8 drug stores, 3 markets, and 3 book
stores. From Julius P. B. MacCabe, Directory
of the City of Detroit . . . 1837
(Detroit, 1837), cited in Almon E.
Parkins, The Historical Geography of Detroit
(Lansing, 1918), 182.
44 A prominent hotel located on the
south side of Jefferson Avenue, just each of
Randolph, it had once been the
Governor's Mansion and had been opened as a hotel
as recently as May 1835. A year before
Wiley stopped there, Harriet Martineau had
stayed at the American House. Renamed
the Wales Hotel in 1846, it burned in 1848.
Clarence M. Burton, History of
Detroit, 1780-1850 (Detroit, 1917), 64, 161; Silas
Farmer, History of Detroit and Wayne
County and Early Michigan.... (New York,
1890), 480-481; Cyrus P. Bradley,
"Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley," Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly, XV (1906), 253-254.
45 The mud of Detroit was
remarked by other travelers of this period, for example,
Joshua T. Smith, Journal in America, 1837-8 (Metuchen,
N.J., 1925), 37-38.
192 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
In the streets you could behold great
numbers of the Indian Tribe wallowing
in the mire, indulging in disipation and
crime. They were [the] most
miserable vagabonds I ever beheld. They
were almost as naked as they
were born, quarrelling with each other
while under the influence of liquor,
passing and repassing the principal
streets. Thought I to myself, I rejoice
that I am a stranger that may witness
such depravity alone. At six o'clock
I took passage on the same boat to
return to Ohio City. We passed down
the river to Malden and laid up till
twelve o'clock at night. When we
proceeded on our way the wind blew a
pretty strong breeze from the south
east. The billows rolled tremendously,
and the night was dark and dreary.
At daylight we entered the harbor at
Manhattan.46 Only stopped long
enough to land passengers and wood. We
immediately proceeded on our
way. Touched at Sandusky City.47 Don't
think much of this place. Not
under very good regulations and a plenty
of mud and speccled pigs. At
seven o'clock P.M. June the 23, 1837, we
landed safe on the wharf in
Ohio City. I proceeded directly on to
the hill and found myself at home
.
. . . . .
. . . . .
. .48
Sept. 8, 1837. Thus ends one year labor
with Messrs O. & A. Haven.
On settlement I found I had lost seven
days in the course of the year! I now
engage to remain one year more for which
I am to have a salary of five
hundred dollars and board and washing.
Rather a solitary time to be confined
in the old Tin shop two years in
succession. But, however, I can go it.49
Matters and things pass along rather
pleasantly. Have a plenty of busi-
ness.50 Nothing in particular occured in
the course of the fall that is worthy
of notice. Dec. 25 Christmas passed off
in a similar manner to that of last
46 The
port town at the terminus of the Miami and Erie Canal, Manhattan had
docks and warehouses built on stilts
over the Maumee River so that lightering was
unnecessary. Originally Perrysburg
farther upstream was its principal rival, but when
the terminus of the canal was moved to a
point between Manhattan and Perrysburg,
both places were outdistanced by the new
Toledo. Mansfield, op. cit., I, 306.
47 Also called Portland (the name of the township in which it was
located), this
port had a population of 2,480 by the
middle 1830's. It was an important point
for travelers going from upstate New
York to the Mississippi country. Considerable
interior trade passed through Sandusky.
Jenkins, op. cit., 396.
48 Here the journal is interrupted by several passages copied from the Universalist
Union, the Watchman, and the Bible, and several turgid
paragraphs of his own
writing. One page entitled "The
Word, Farewell" is an anniversary essay on his
departure from home. It is dated Ohio
City, September 1, 1837. A paragraph on
"Happiness" is dated September
4, 1837.
49 Another evidence of a lapse of
time in the composition of this journal.
50 An interesting observation about the fall of 1837 in view of the hard
times
which were being felt along the eastern
seaboard. On the whole, Ohio seems not to
have suffered excessively from the
panic. Francis P. Weisenburger, The Passing
of the Frontier, 1825-1850 (History
of the State of Ohio, edited by Carl
Wittke,
III, Columbus, 1941), 339 et seq.
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 193
year- The Episcopalians luminated their
house in a splendid style, and
celebrated the day in an [sic) appropriate
a manner as I could expect while
embracing the creed they profess to
believe. I shall not stop to make any
comments on it now. Reference to it can
be had by turning to the Common
Prayer book, where every sober mind can
judge for itself. I have no right
to judge others were I disposed. Matters
of conscience is a thing that every
man must settle between himself and his
God, and not by any human
tribunal. Am very sorry to hear some of
our Presbyterians speak with so
much derision of one of the most
important epochs in [the] history of
the world, but it may with safety be
attribited to their superstition, bigotry,
and ignorence.51
Jany 1, 1838. Another annular New Year
has rolled around since I have
been a resident of the state of Ohio.
Sixty-two annular suns have rolled
away since our Fathers sat in council
deliberating upon the momentous
events that led to the Revolution and
swore to die or be free. May our
happy government roll on to the latest
posterity in the annals of time,
and may its rulers ever be governed by
the same patriotic principles that
our venerable forefathers were when they
rebelled against the tyrents yoke.
May their ashes be at rest, and
everlasting peace be their happy lot. The
Gentlemen spent the day calling on the
Ladies as usual. All things would
have passed off well had not some of the
Gentlemen got so intoxicated
by afternoon as to be unfit to be seen
in any public place. I believe they
were generally able to make their way
home at night after a fassion, but
if they could have seen their tracks next
morning it would put them to
the blush. However all these things are
soon forgotten by the aristocracy.
They will allways tell you 'tis in
consequnce of being ill. Oh, shame on
them--shame--
. . . . . . 52
On the morning of 14th of April, 1838, a
company of men commenced
opening an ancient mound situated in the
north westerly part of Ohio
City.53 This mound was about
eight feet high and twenty or twenty-five feet
in diameter. Ever since the first
settlement of the country, this ancient
relick has been known to belong to some
unknown nation or tribe. In
regard to its history, all has been
wrapt in impenitrable darkness. The
51 In
his attitude toward the celebration of Christmas, Wiley reflects the emerging
liberal Protestant position in contrast
to traditional Puritan disapproval. This tolerance
for a celebration associated by many
people with roistering and reveling is sur-
prising in a man of Wiley's strait-laced
propensities. See Ivor D. Spencer, "Christmas
the Upstart," New England
Quarterly, VIII (1935), 507-509.
52 Dated July 10, 1837, a poem copied
from the Trumpet of Charlestown,
Massachusetts, is omitted.
53 I
have been unable to find other references to this mound.
194 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
present native Indians had no knowledge
of its builders. All was con-
jecture. All was a mystery. On removing
the earth, the bowels of this
curiosity was found to contain large
quantities of human bones. They
appear to have been deposited with very
little regulations, thrown together
in the most rude manner possible. I was
present when the earth was re-
moved from one entire and perfect skeleton.
It appeared to have been ex-
tended on its back, the head one foot
the highest and feet pointed to the
northeast. It was rather below the
medium size. On exposing to the air
the last remains of the unfortunate
being crumbled to dust, and thus ful-
filled the Scriptures, by mingling with
mother earth again. Some small
curiosities were found near the last
mentioned subject. Some small ornaments
or beads were found near its neck, I
think two or three hundred in number,
supposed to be ivory, but none could say
for a fact. A large chestnut stump
stood exactly upon the top of this
mound, [on] which I counted one hundred
and sixty annular rings and the tree had
been fallen sixteen years. So we
have good evidence to prove that this
was thrown up near or quite two
hundred years ago. I must confess that
it looked cruel to disturb the ashes
of the unfortunate beings after sleeping
in peace and quietness for so great
a number of years. If I should believe
that mine would be a similar lot,
it would make me extremely unhappy now.
May Divine Providence order
it otherwise. May the clods that shall
enclose this clayed tabernacle remain
undisturbed till the final disolution of
all thing[s] here below. But we
cannot look but a precious little way
into futurity; therefore we cannot
foresee with any degree of certainty
what may be our lot in time to come.
Let us put our whole trust in the
Redeemer and believe that he knows and
will do the best for our good. Not my
will but thine be done, is my most
earnest desire.
On the twenty-eighth day of April in the
year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight,54 I
purchased of Otis Haven all his half
of the tin, copper, & sheet iron
business under the Firm of O. & A. Haven,
for which I paid him six hundred and
eighty-five dollars. I then engaged
in the business with Abel Haven, under
the Firm of Haven & Wiley, capital
stock equal. Thus matters slide along
very pleasantly. In May following
we purchased a bill of groceries of
Isaiah Dickey & Co., Pittsburgh,
amounting to six hundred and ten
dollars, also a quantity of nails of
Samuel Pratt & Co. of Buffalo, N.Y.
Together with our tin & copper ware,
it made us a general assortment. We
purchased a pair [of] horses and [a]
waggon and turned our attention a little
to the peddling business. Brother
Robert arrived here a few days previous
to our making this arrangement.
54 This passage was written July 1,
1838.
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 195
We accordingly chartered him to drive
our team. He immediately entered
upon the duties of his responsible
office, which he discharged with fidelity
and energy. Whoever may think the office
of a Tin Pedler a petty office
will do well to make themselves
experimentally acquainted with its duties
before they decide. No circumstances
happen in our business worthy of
notice. All things pass along very quietly
and much to my satisfaction.
There is consolation in having a good
and faithful partner--July 1, 1838--
. . . . . 55
Columbus, Ohio, August 8th, 1839
On the 30 of July, Abel Haven &
family bid goodbye to their friends
in Ohio City and took passage on board
the Great Western56 bound for
Buffalo. Again I was called upon to part
with friends. But all these things
must be.
At 8 o'clock Monday morning, the fifth
day of August, I left Ohio
City in company with Otis Haven. The
weather being fine and the roads
good we traveled merrily along. We could
behold the farmers on either
side busily engaged harvesting the
golden wheat. At last we arrived at a
village called Jackson,57 where
we put up for the night having traveled
forty-one miles.
Tuesday evening we came to the Town of
Loudenville [Loudonville].
Here we found rather hard fare.58 Wednesday
and Thursday we passed
55 At this
point Wiley turned again to poems and essays, original and copied,
many of the latter from the Universalist
Union. After two items dated July 4, 1838,
there is a break of a full year in the
entries. Evidently the new business partnership
took up all of his time during this
year, for it is not until July 1839, when he is on
his way back to Ohio from a visit to
Saxtons River that he resumes journal entries.
The report of his trip home contains
little of interest aside from some sentimental
self-pity, the record of a severe storm
which occurred while he was in Vermont, and
a note to the effect that he heard Henry
Clay "deliver a Federal speech" in Rochester,
Monday noon, July 24. The line boat
journey from Albany to Buffalo cost $6.50 in
contrast to the fare of $8.33 when he
passed over the same route in 1836.
56 A 780-ton steamer built at Huron,
Ohio, in 1838, burned at Detroit and later
rebuilt. Mansfield, op. cit., I,
833. Especially designed to accommodate the immigrant
traffic from Buffalo to the West, it
represented an innovation in marine architecture
on the Great Lakes. Having two tiers of
cabins above the main deck, like an Ohio
River packet, and thus increasing
steerage and freight space, the Great Western
became an immediate popular success. It
had sixty staterooms, each with three berths.
It is cited by Mills as one of three
steamers (the others were the James Madison
and the Illinois) contributing
largely to the settlement of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Harlan Hatcher, Lake Erie ( The
American Lake Series, edited by Milo M. Quaife,
Indianapolis and New York, 1945), 126-127;
James C. Mills, Our Inland Seas
(Chicago, 1910), 117-118.
57 One of twenty-seven Jacksons in Ohio,
this post town in Wayne County had
approximately two hundred people by the
middle of the thirties. Jenkins, op. cit., 239.
58 Little
wonder the fare was "hard," since this was a small village of 51 in-
habitants in 1830 and only about 120 by
the middle of the decade. Yet even so,
there were two taverns. The Ohio
Gazetteer.... Being a Continuation of the Work
Originally Compiled by the Late John
Kilbourn (11th ed., Columbus, 1833),
283;
Jenkins, op. cit., 271.
196 Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
through an wild uncultivated country and
arrived at Columbus at half past
six o'clock eve.
Columbus, the State's Capital, is indeed
a beautiful city regularly laid
out, the streets crossing each other at
right angles. It now containes about
seven thousand inhabitants59 and
is rapidly increasing in size and wealth.
At this time you could have seen sixty
or seventy of the criminals doomed
to the Penitentiary take a good Spanish
March through one of the principal
streets returning from their labors on
the new State's Prison to their
melancholy cells in the old. Truly they
are objects of pity and [I] am
ready to exclaim [that] the way of the
transgressor is hard.
Springfield,60 Clark County,
Ohio, 9th August [1839)
At half past 5 o'clock Friday morning we
left Columbus and entered
immediately upon the National road but
had not proceeded far before we
saw [a] large company of men riding on
horseback. When they came up
I enquired and ascertained the facts
respecting this strange appearance. It
appeared that the Sheriff from
Cincinnati and eighteen others who were
guards were mouted [sic] on
horseback and had in their care twenty-seven
prisoners from Cincinnati who were sentenced
to the Penitentiary for a term
of years.
Satturday morning, August 10 [1839)--We
started and went directly
to Dayton61 which place we reached [the]
same evening and put up at
Swaynies Hotel62 and remained
till Tuesday morning when we started for
Cincinati and arrived there Wednesday
morning nine o'clock. Thursday we
crossed the Ohio River and paid a visit
to the Kentuckians, and on Friday
we returned to the city and retraced our
steps and arrived at Dayton,
August 17, 1839--
Dayton, Sept. 1th, 1839
This day I entered into a copartnership
with Otis Haven under the
name & Firm of Haven & Wiley for
the purpose of carrying on the stove,
59 A
reasonable figure in view of Jenkins' estimate of 6,000 in the mid-thirties.
Ibid., 138.
60 In May 1836 Springfield was reported to have a population of 2,317,
although
by 1840 the figure had declined to
2,094. Ibid., 414.
61 By 1840 Dayton had a population of approximately 6,000 and gave the im-
pression of a thriving place. Robert W.
Steele and Mary D. Steele, Early Dayton....
(Dayton, 1896), 174.
62 This hotel, where Wiley lived during the period covered
by the remainder of
this diary, had begun as a tavern and
wagon yard about 1830 when the canal from
Cincinnati reached Dayton. Just before
Wiley came to Dayton, Alexander Swaynie,
the proprietor, had built a three-story
brick building on the site of his original
frame structure. With carpets
manufactured locally, this establishment long enjoyed
a reputation as a first-class hotel.
John F. Edgar, Pioneer Life in Dayton and Vicinity,
1796-1840 (Dayton, 1896), 233.
A
Vermont Man in Ohio, 1836-1842 197
tin, copper, and sheet iron business or
any other operation they may think
propper.
. . . . . 63
Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, Jany 1,
1840
The past autumn and fall were extremely
pleasant and delightful. We
commenced selling stoves about the first
of Oct. Have succeeded very well.
Retailed from seventy-five to one
hundred of different kinds, principally
the combination cooking stove. The earth
is frozen a little but no snow.
Feb. 10th, 1840, we were visited by long
and heavy rains which cleared
the river & canal of ice and on the
12th the first boat left here for Cin-
cinnati.
. . . . . 64
Federalism in 1840 65
Fort Meigs, Tippacanoe, and Thames,
after being buried in oblivion more
than twenty-five years are now for the
first time discovered to be worthy of
commemoration in feasts and in song. I
have accordingly seen vast as-
semblages collected together at great
labor and cost, not to respond to any
principle, or listen to any argument but
to drown the voice of reason in
shouts of revelry, and lead captive the
feelings of the people in a senseless
excitement. Hurrah for the newly found
hero, annunciations of his poverty
or his residence in a Log Cabin and love
of hard cider, the hauling of
miniature log hen coops and canoes,
gourd, shells, and cider barrels through
the streets, the rolling of balls, and a
display of different colored banners
with unmeaning mottos, doggerel, rhymes
and vulgar pictures, coon skins.
The drinking of hard cider, the nibbling
of corn dodder [sic] and imitating
the cries of birds and the howl of wild
beasts with other mummery and
mockery, are disgraceful to the country.
It is saying to the people, you are
too ignorent for self government, and is
a down right insult to the good
understanding of the American freeman.
63 A
poem copied from the Universalist Watchman, dated Dayton, Ohio, October
8,
1839, is omitted.
64 Here
follows a list of candidates and electoral votes from 1788 through the
election of 1840, the data on the 1840
election evidently added later, for the ink
is different. This list is followed by
two essays, one copied "from the writings of
George Rodgers," the other
apparently Wiley's own effort. Both are dated in June 1840.
65 The following outburst apparently
represents the disgust of a staunch Democrat
at the spectacle of the Whigs wooing the
masses. We can only imagine Wiley's
feelings on the occasion of Harrison
Day, September 10, 1840, when Dayton was
host to an immense Harrison
demonstration. It was estimated that about 100,000
people were in Dayton on that day. Of
the 700 houses in the town, 644 displayed
flags as an indication that they would
receive guests for lodging during the gathering.
A procession five miles long went out
from town to meet the Whig candidate. Speeches,
parades, and excitement were the order
of the day. Steele and Steele, op. cit., 175-
177; Charlotte R. Conover, The Story
of Dayton (Dayton, 1917), 116-121.
198 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
But such is Federalism, Harrisonism, and
modern Whiggery in Dayton,
Ohio, in 1840--June 24th.
. . . . .66
American Mechanics67
Mechanics, whose toil is the wealth of a
nation
Whose breasts are the bulwarks when
danger is nigh
Though our humble lot, and despised our
vocation
We have honor and worth that the world
cannot buy.
The minions of wealth may affect to
despise us
Pronouncing us ignorent, sordid, and
base,
But the moment will come that shall
teach them to prise us
The scorn they have written themselves
shall erase.
Now ours is the hand that can
turn back the billow
That threatens to sweep o'er our altars
and homes.
We may live in the breeze that but plays
with the willow
But success unto us when the hurricane
comes.
We shall be called upon in the moment of
danger
When the war banner spreads its red
folds to the air
When our homes are assailed by the hands
of a stranger
And the valleys re-echo with cries of
despair.
Where of Rome's faded grandeur her ruins
are telling,
Where Athens' proud temples reflect back
the sun
In Palmyra's streets now the jackalls'
lone dwelling
Are recorded the triumphs by industry
won.
There is not a nation where science has
flourished
There is not a land that the arts have
adorned
66 At this point the entries become
almost exclusively literary and poetic effusions,
most of them, evidently, original.
Principally religious and melancholy in tone with
recurring reference to home and distant
family, they have titles such as "Sabbath
Evening Thoughts," "Such Is
Man," "My Own New England Home," "Mountains
in New England," "Twilight
Reflections," etc. The few personal entries reveal that
Wiley was ill (fever and ague) or
recuperating from illness during much of the
summer and fall of 1840, thus providing
the explanation for this long period of
introspection and pessimism. During the
summer of 1841 he took a trip to his home
in Vermont but noted in his journal
little more than a list of places, travel distances,
and time. The production of essays and
poems continued during the fall of 1841,
again apparently associated with poor
health. Below a poem entitled "Autumn," he
observes, "Oh my soul I am sick and
cannot write, my side feels so bad. Dayton,
Nov. 14th, 1841." Daytonians may
find the following brief weather notation of some
interest: "Warm Weather. The
thermometer at noon yesterday stood at 78 degrees in
the shade! The highest point reached
last summer was 88 degrees. Dayton, Ohio,
Saturday, March 27, 1841."
67 This poem is introduced not as
typical of Wiley's poetical efforts but rather
as better than the average and of some
interest because of its subject matter.
A Vermont Man in Ohio,
1836-1842 199
But our valor has guarded, our industry
nourished,
Through glory to fame, though degraded
and scorned.
Our labor in peace like a bright living
fountain
Sends rivers of wealth to replenish the
earth,
And in War, like the storm beaten rock
of the mountain
We ward off the blast from the land of
our birth,
But when peace, like the sun on our
country is shining
For the wealth we bestow they repay us
with sneers
And the wounds we have borne in her
cause unrepining
Ingratitude bathes in adversity's tears
When the herald of fame in the annals of
our story
The deeds of a hero proclaims throug [sic]
the land
The monuments reared to emblazen his
glory
And the deeds they record are the works
of our hands.
Oren Wiley
Dayton, January 14, 1842
. . . . .68
This is the last page of this book;
consequently my pleasures in writing
any more in this are ended. More than
five years and a half69 has passed
away since I pened the first line and no
human hands (save my own) has
ever held it even for one moment during
that time. And I can say with
a very few exceptions that no human eye
ever saw it except my own. At any
rate none but myself has at any time
read even one word. During this
period of time I have passed through
some strange vicisitudes. A portion of
the time the hand of sickness has rested
heavily upon me. Week after
week has been spent in a lonely chamber,
languishing under a burning
fever far from home with no kind friend
near to sympathise or even pity
me. But that same Almighty Being whose
existance fills all space, "who is
the same Yesterday, today and
forever" never forsook me in the hour of
need. I recollected that he had told me
he did not willingly afflict the children
of men. Since no one has ever perused a
page in this book, I cannot but
wonder who the person is that will read
the first line.
Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, March
1th, 1842.
Oren Wiley
68 Several poems and a religious
essay intervene before the final page of the journal.
69 If we accept this figure as accurate,
Wiley made his first entry during the fall
of 1836, soon after his arrival in Ohio
City. It is likely, however, that he was
mistaken, since internal evidence
suggests that he wrote the story of his first year in
Ohio at least a year after the events he
was reporting.
THE JOURNAL OF A VERMONT MAN IN OHIO,
1836-18421
edited by LEROY P. GRAF
Professor of History, University of
Tennessee
In 1836, when he was thirty-one, Oren
Wiley left his family and
friends in Saxtons River, Vermont, to
accept employment in a tin
shop in Ohio City, Ohio, a new
settlement located along Lake Erie
on the west side of the Cuyahoga River
opposite Cleveland. Three
years later he moved to Dayton, Ohio,
where he lived until his
return to New England to Greenfield,
Massachusetts, in the middle
1850's.2 While living in Ohio he
visited New England several
times, and in 1844 on one of these
trips he married Harriet Weaver
Banks at Swanzey, New Hampshire. In
1889 at the age of eighty-
three he died in Greenfield.
Wiley wrote the following Journal
during his first six years away
from home. Writing at irregular
intervals, he often recorded events
which had occurred some time before,
though seldom more than a
year had elapsed; often it was a matter
of only a few days. In-
creasingly he used his journal book as
a copybook in which to pre-
serve essays and poems which he
discovered in the daily press or in
Universalist literature. His religious
concern led him not only to
read and copy but also to write both
poems and essays of a religious
or highly moral nature. Several parts
of the Journal here printed
reveal his pious propensities and his
tendency to moralize. Although
most of the moral essays and poems are
omitted, one of his essays,
commenting on the election of 1840, and
a poem glorifying the
mechanic are included because they
offer interesting and even lively
contemporary reactions to matters of
general historical interest.
Wiley's account of his trip to Ohio,
his reactions to Ohio City and
the fight over the Columbus Street
bridge, and his briefly recorded
trips to Detroit and southern Ohio
furnish the particular interest
1 The original of this Journal is in the possession of
Wiley's granddaughter, Mrs.
Louise Wiley McCleary, of Knoxville,
Tennessee, to whom I am indebted for per-
mission to edit and
publish the following material.
2 The
exact date of the return is not available, but family records show that
January 8, 1854, a daughter died
in Dayton and February 24, 1856, another daughter
was born in Greenfield,
Massachusetts. The removal was sometime between these
dates. Family Lineage and Record Book in
possession of Mrs. Louise Wiley McCleary.
175