THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE SETTLEMENT OF
THE WESTERN RESERVE, 1796 - 1815
By HERMINA SUGAR
The writer asked, . . . "Can you
tell me of some exceptional woman
of the early time that I may mention her?" His eye
sparkled more than
usual as he replied, "All of them,
ma'am."1
Introduction.
A true history of the Western Reserve
is, in a large measure,
the history of its women; there were no
famous women in its early
history but it is rather the commonplace
lives that were well and
courageously lived that deserve
recognition and praise. The
pioneer women in the Reserve were noble
women, of the best
New England mold with educational and
religious spirit and of
active intellect, women who were
responsible for the foundation
of forces that eventually proved of
world-wide influence. These
women did not live for themselves; they
did not only preach the
doctrine "Love thy neighbor as
thyself," but practiced it -- lov-
ingly, sincerely, kindly, and
effectively. No concept of the devel-
opment of the Reserve can be gained
without an appreciation of
the role played by its women pioneers.
They endured countless
hardships accompanying their husbands to
the West with the pur-
pose of establishing permanent homes in
the wilderness. With
their presence, civilized conduct
replaced frontier lawlessness and
peaceful and law-abiding communities
were established.
The lives of the women pioneers had much
in common. They
all had difficulties en route to the
Connecticut Reserve, coming by
sled, by cart, wagon, or walking. The
experiences of the Samuel
Huntington family on way to the Western
Reserve were repre-
sentative of those of other pioneers.
Huntington wrote:
"I was nine days on the Journey,
with two Waggons, ten oxen, three
horses, seven Cows, and eighteen persons
in my retinue-- We slept seven
1. Mrs. W. A. Ingham, Women of Cleveland and Their Work
(Cleveland, 1893), 283.
(51)
52
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
nights in the open air, and pursued the
same rout that my former Waggons
went, but found our road wanted cutting
again, on acct. of some fresh
Windfalls; our Women and Children
supported the Journey with courage
and spirits--"2
Once settled, it was the same old story
of spinning, weaving,
aiding the sick and needy, caring for
large families and in innu-
merable ways forgetting themselves in
trying to give happiness to
others. They were, without a doubt,
heroic women who left their
New England homes of comfort and luxury
to face the weariness
and dangers of a long journey to
isolated wilderness.
Yet, fortunately for the American
nation, they had the
strength and courage that came from
strong convictions which
were supplemented with Yankee
practicality and a stern sense of
duty. These pioneer women were not
theorists and dreamers.
From their Puritan, patriotic, and
scholarly ancestors they in-
herited a restless energy, versatility,
and patience. They were in-
dustrious, alert to virtue, quick to
resist oppression and wrong,
and they loved learning and had
reverence for religion. Embody-
ing such New England characteristics,
the earliest women settlers
developed self-reliance, resoluteness,
and courage in their new and
perilous environment.
Women should be granted some of the
glory that lay in de-
veloping the Western Reserve. They
proved their worth in estab-
lishing the fundamental elements of civilization
on the frontier,
in developing the mores of
self-maintenance, self-perpetuation,
religion, and self-gratification.
Religion.
Their religious convictions, inherited
and ingrained in a New
York and New England environment
underwent a relaxation of
doctrine though still maintaining a
decided reverential and serious
tone in character. They believed in
living earnestly and right-
eously. They were God-fearing and
Christ-loving. Their courage
was a Christian courage, rooted and
grounded in the hope of a
life that lies beyond. Service was a
large part of their religion and
they were all earnest church-workers.
2 "Letters
from the Samuel Huntington Correspondence, 1800-1812," in Western
Reserve Historical Society, Tracts (Cleveland),
no. 95 (1915), pt. 2, November 15, 1801.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN
RESERVE 53
Hence, the early women settlers were a
strong influence in
establishing and continuing the
institutions of religion in the
Western Reserve. The majority of the
women settlers were
charter members of churches that were
organized. Three of the
nine charter members of the first
Baptist Church in Warren were
women.3 Of the six original
members of the first Congregation-
alist Church in Warren, four were women.4
Ten women were
members of the committee of twenty which
organized the Presby-
terian Church at Harpersfield in 1809.5
When the first Congre-
gationalist Church was founded at Troy,
Geauga County, six of
the ten charter members were women.6
When Mrs. Noble H. Merwin, a staunch
Presbyterian, ac-
companied her husband to Cleveland in
1815, the village lacked
any form of public worship within the
immediate locality. There-
fore, Mrs. Merwin invited her neighbors
and "led them to the
log courthouse, and opened her Bible,
leading the services until a
missionary was sent to the people. Her
Christian influence was
sincerely felt."7
In 1809, when the Rev.
Joseph Badger transferred his mis-
sionary work among the white settlers in
the Western Reserve to
deal with the Indians, Mrs. Eliphalet
Austin of Austinburg, Ash-
tabula County, rode to Connecticut on
horseback to find a new
minister for the church. Soon after
arriving at the home of her
father about four weeks later, she
learned that the Rev. Giles H.
Cowles had purchased land in Farmington,
Ohio. Mrs. Austin
visited him, laid the needs of
Austinburg before him and finally,
persuaded him to come to Austinburg,
which he did the following
year.8
Practicality was another note in the
religious convictions of
these pioneer women in the last
organized and distinct colony of
Puritanism. For example, there was Mrs.
Simon Perkins for-
merly of Lisbon, Connecticut, and later
of Warren, Ohio, a de-
vout Christian who provided for any
needs of her pastor's family.
3 Woman's Department of the Cleveland
Centennial Commission, Memorial to the
Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve (Cleveland, 1896-1924), III, 31.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., 83.
6 Ibid., 109.
7 Ingham, op. cit., 33.
8 Memorial to the Pioneer Women, III, 78.
54
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
She donated a house and lot to the
Presbyterian Church for a
parsonage. Also, Mrs. Perkins cultivated
a fruit and flower gar-
den from which a female relative picked
strawberries till she sold
enough to purchase a solid mahogany
communion table for the
Warren Presbyterian Church.9 A
Mrs. Garrett held some of the
first meetings of the Warren Baptists at
her home. Before his
death, her husband had given land for a
cemetery, and "she was
a prime worker in the erection of a
house for worship."10 An-
other woman solicited small donations of
wool from the women
in the vicinity and wove a carpet for
the church.11
In addition, the women who dwelt in the
immediate vicinity
of the earliest churches, ministered to
the comfort of those who
came long distances to attend services
and prayer meetings. They
also prepared meals for the men who
participated in the building
of churches, during the period of
construction.
Pioneer women on the Reserve also
regarded church-going
and Sunday observance as imperative
duties. In 1804, owing to
the strict observance of the Sabbath on
the part of one woman of
Vernon, Trumbull County, "a bear
escaped being killed. Thomas
Giddings saw one near the east of where
Mr. and Mrs. Sutliff
lived, and went to their house to get a
gun. Mr. Sutliff was not
at home, and his wife would not loan it
because it was Sunday."12
And a short time after the occupancy of
the new Baptist meeting-
house at Warren, the leader of the choir
introduced a bass viol.
"Upon the first sound of that
instrument, Mrs. Garrett left the
meeting expressing great surprise at the
desecration."13
Wives of ministers shared the trials and
perplexities incident
to that station. "What must a
minister's wife have lived on in
those days, when his salary was paid
partly in whiskey that sold
for twenty-five cents a gallon?"14
Frequently, these ministers'
wives were cultured and brilliant women
and because of their
marked intellectual traits were not
trained in the housekeeping arts
so fundamental in frontier life. Yet,
such women as Sally White
9 Ibid., 32.
10 Ibid., 171-2.
11 Harriet
Taylor Upton, History of the
Western Reserve (Chicago, 1910), 5.
12 Memorial to the Pioneer Women, III, 246.
13 Ibid., 172.
14 Ingham, op. cit., 262.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 55
Cowles, wife of the Rev. Giles Cowles
"could not have been the
help to her husband she was or filled
the large place in church
and society she did, had her education
been after the prescribed
fashion of that day."15
The women on the frontier also seem to
have transplanted
to the solemn silences of the Western
Reserve forest lands, all
the mysticism of their nature which was
given its greatest play in
the frequent camp meetings, especially
among the Methodists. One
woman in giving her experiences years
afterward
said she was working near the roadside,
. . . when the sound of singing
came to her ears.... it came nearer and
her surprise increased when, in
glimpses among the trees, she saw a
procession on horseback.... It was
a company returning home from a great
Methodist camp-meeting. The class-
leader and his wife rode foremost; her
bonnet hung by the ribbons down
her back, her light brown hair lay in
loose curls on her shoulders. Her face
was lighted up beautifully, it seemed
the glorified face of an angel; all their
faces glowed with a joy such as she had
never known in her life and as
they rode, some horses carrying double,
in and out among the low-hanging
branches, their voices blended in
harmony and sweetness as they sang that
old hymn:
What is it that casts you down,
What is this that grieves you?
Speak and let the worst be known,
Speaking may relieve you.16
These camp-meetings took weeks of
preparation on the part
of the pioneer housewives in the
Reserve. The provision of food
and improvised dwelling quarters were
the task of the women, in
order to accommodate strangers from far
and near.
Education.
Also to the efforts of early women
settlers in the Reserve,
may be attributed the founding of
religious as well as elementary
schools. In 1813, Miss Addie Harris of
Erie County announced
her home open every Sunday afternoon for
Sunday School and
asked neighborhood children to attend.17
15 Memorial to the Pioneer Women, III, 79.
16 P. P. Cherry, The Western Reserve and Early Ohio (Akron,
1921), 82-3; Emilius
O. Randall and Daniel J. Ryan, History
of Ohio (New York, 1912), III, 23-25.
17 The first Sunday, one of the children
of Clement Beardsly was requested to
read from the Bible but Miss Harris was horrified to
learn that he had not learned to
read. She thereupon proceeded to teach
the children reading.
The next day Mrs. Beardsly came to see
her. She told Miss Harris that
teaching on Sunday was a sacrilege. Miss
Harris was very sweet and patient.
"You read the Bible don't you, Mrs.
Beardsly?" she inquired. "Of course,"
answered her neighbor. "But your
children cannot read it," continued Miss Harris.
"I reads it to them," Mrs.
Beardsly told her. "But you won't always be here to
read to them," Miss Harris told
her. "Come now, let them attend my school each
56 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The first public school in Cleveland was
opened in 1802, and
Miss Annie Spafford was employed as the
first teacher. The
school-room was the front-room of the Lorenzo Carter log-cabin
and in addition to the regular
curriculum, Miss Spafford taught
her dozen juvenile pupils "how to
shoot."18 Previous to June 13,
1817, the school teachers in Cleveland were paid by means of
taxes levied on the bachelors of the
settlement. "The amount of
tax paid cannot be found in any
tradition, but from the fact that
these gentlemen, not long after, changed
estate, we judge that
economy may have been a motive." 19
The first school on the Reserve was
opened at Harpersfield,
Ashtabula County, in 1802 and Miss Elizabeth Harper served as
the first teacher. Miss Harper's school,
however, was open only
to tuition-paying pupils.20
The early teachers were usually from the
best blood and
talent of the New England States and
they stimulated educational
tendencies in other ways than teaching
school and lecturing at
evening sessions to adults. The women of
Talmadge, Summit
County, founded a literary society and
library in 1815.21 Too, in
the early days of the American
Educational Society, when there
came a call to aid young men in
preparing themselves for the
ministry, a former teacher from Connecticut, who had settled in
Wayne, Ashtabula County, gave her dead
mother's gold beads,
being the only ornament she possessed.22
In addition, many women
learned Indian dialects and studied at
home during their very few
spare moments.23 "While
Abigail Root, wife of Dr. Jonathon
Metcalf, was an ideal wife endowed with
rare education and re-
finement. Her husband's medical library,
read because of scarcity
Sunday until they learn so that they can
read the Bible for themselves. They have
to work from daylight to dark every day
but Sunday, surely there can be nothing
wrong in my teaching them to read the
Bible." So, she won Mrs. Beardsly over,
and both of them had their reward later,
when the oldest Beardsly boy recited
three hundred verses of scriptures he
had memorized and read himself.
See M. L. Cherry, Mothers of Erie
County (1982), anecdote no. 16.
18 Harvey Rice, Pioneers of the Western Reserve (Boston;
New York, 1883);
Ingham, op. cit., 223.
19 Ibid., 225.
20 William Stowell Mills, The Story
of the Western Reserve of Connecticut (New
York, 1900), 108. Most of the schools of
the period were public schools but interestingly
enough, Charles Whittlesey makes mention
of the fact that the Huntington, family
brought a governess, Miss Cobb, from
Connecticut with them. Charles Whittlesey,
Early History of Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland, 1867), 383.
21 Memorial
to the Pioneer Women, III, 126.
22 Ibid.,180.
23 Ibid., 371.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 57
of other books, became of use to her in
kindly offices for the sick
in other families than her own."24
The women served, too, in
the capacity of teacher within the home.
The mothers in early times brought up
their sons and daughters to
lives of industry, and consequently to
lives of usefulness.... The pioneer
mothers taught their children by precept
and example, the necessity and
value of useful labor in the development
of human character.... Upon
them to a large extent was imposed the
task of the moral training and
education of their children and most
faithfully, and with a self-sacrificing
devotion . . . did they execute this
task. The result was that the children of
the families of the early settlers were
well taught in the rudiments of a
common education and in common sense.25
And one woman said, "Our mother
taught her children
economy, prudence, and frugality, which
served us well when
making homes for ourselves."26 Thus
despite the fact that books
were scarce27 and the course
of study limited, thoroughness in
teaching and eagerness to learn were
very apparent.
Social Relations.
The desire of the early women settlers
for education and
learning is also reflected in the
inquisitiveness that accompanied
their extreme hospitality. John Bradbury
wrote of their inquisi-
tiveness: "But for my part I must
say it is a practice that I never
was disposed to complain of because I
always found them as
ready to answer a question as to ask
one, and I therefore, always
came off a gainer by this sort of
barter; and if any traveler does
not, it is his own fault."28 On the
other hand, it would be unfair
to maintain that the desire to satisfy a
hunger for news was the
only factor which resulted in
hospitality to strangers. The lack
of very early taverns forced travelers
and new settlers to appeal
to the hospitality of those already
established in the community.
And the hospitality of the frontier
woman in the Western Reserve
was bounded only by the means of her
family to afford its practice.
24 Ibid., 114.
25 Early Settlers' Association of
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Annals (Cleveland,
1880-), I, no. 6 (1885), 33-37.
26 Memorial to the Pioneer Women, III, 288.
27 "The Bible, New England Primer,
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Baxter's Saints'
Everlasting Rest, Butler's Analogy,
Watts' On the Mind, and Watts' Hymns made up
the mental food in the western woods. .
. . Occasionally classics or English poets of
Descriptive and didactic schools were to
be met with." See Alfred Mathews, Ohio and
Her Western Reserve (New York, 1802), 161.
28 John Bradbury, Travels in
the Interior of America, in Reuben Gold Thwaites
(ed.) Early Western Travels (Cleveland), V (1904),
292; James Hall, Letters from
the West (London, 1828), 113-4.
58
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
No matter when strangers arrived, they
were given the best while
they remained -- which meant so much
more work for the pioneer
housewife already overburdened with
chores--and departures
were regretted with unfeigned sincerity.
In fact, hospitality appears to have
been an outstanding social
requisite. George Tod, in one of his
letters to Huntington ended
with: "And give my best respects to
Madame and Miss Margaret
and tell them I expect to do myself the
pleasure before summer
to call at their home and drink a little
whiskey and eat some
warm bread and butter."29 And
according to a statement of
Thomas D. Webb of Warren, when calling
on Huntington who
at the time was absent on circuit of the
Supreme Court, "presented
a letter of introduction to Mrs.
Huntington . . . and induced her
to board me for a short time. I remained
about three weeks."30
Another way in which women of the early
Reserve proved
their social value, was in maintaining
peaceful relations with the
Indians in the district. On the whole,
the Indians were generally
friendly except when under the influence
of liquor and in making
demands for and devouring enormous
quantities of food. Fre-
quently, too, the women exchanged their
bread for Indian venison.
The white women also made dresses for
the squaws and fre-
quently loaned their babies to the
Indians for a play day. Hannah
Carrol, the wife of Silas Young of
Geauga, was especially friendly
with her Indian neighbors who often
visited her. One brave was
particularly attracted by the young
Quakeress from Pennsylvania
and he gravely proposed to Silas, an
exchange of squaws. Silas
jestingly assented and thought no more
about it. But not so the
Indian brave who appeared with his squaw
and papoose to con-
clude the trade. Silas being absent,
Hannah told the Indian that
she could do nothing about the matter
and to come another day.
However, he must have become reconciled
to his darker Indian
spouse because although he revisited the
Youngs, he made no
further references to the exchange.31 A
few women however,
like Mrs. Lorenzo Carter, suffered much
from fear of the Indians
but Mrs. Carter's fear can probably be
traced to her having been
29 "Letters from Huntington
Correspondence," loc. cit., January 14, 1802.
30 Whittlesey, op. cit., 414.
31 Memorial to the Pioneer
Women, III, 7.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 59
chased by a drunken brave, hatchet in
hand, until she was rescued
by her husband.32
This same Mrs. Carter was the mother of
some nine children.
Indeed, large families were an important
requisite for economic
development in early Western Reserve
history and the family
averaging ten or fifteen children was
the rule rather than the
exception. One of the many toasts made
by General Moses
Cleaveland at Conneaut during the first
fourth of July celebration
on the Western Reserve was "May
these sons and daughters
multiply in sixteen years sixteen times
fifty."33 Apparently the
settlers did all in their power to carry
out this toast. On June 2,
1811, William Creighton wrote to Tod:
"I shall not have the
pleasure of seeing you at Zanesville
this Winter in the character
of a Legislator. . . . My Family is
increasing so rapidly it be-
hooves me to take care of my
Household."34
Without a doubt, pioneer mothers
suffered a good deal during
childbirth. Seth Pease tells us that
"Doct. Shepart tarried at
Cleaveland on Mrs. Stiles account"
yet only a friendly Indian
squaw was present at the birth of the
first white child born in
Cleveland.35 And Mrs. Eunice
Kingsbury, mother of the first
white child born on the Western Reserve,
endured great hardship,
privation and mental suffering during
the winter that her baby
was born. The Kingsbury family settled
for the winter of 1796
in a rickety log cabin at Conneaut,
which the surveyors had
abandoned earlier that fall. Kingsbury
returned to his native state,
New Hampshire, on important business and
then was delayed by
sickness while still in the East. He did
not succeed in returning
to the Western Reserve until Christmas
Eve when he found his
wife, who had recently borne a child, in
a dying condition from
exhaustion and want of proper food. The
infant had died and
the mother had been compelled to bury it
beneath drifted snow
and forest leaves near the cabin.
Fortunately, however, Mrs.
Kingsbury recovered and the family moved
from their isolated
dwelling to Cleveland in 1797.36
32 Ibid., 808.
33 Whittlesey, op. cit., 182, an
extract from the Journal of Moses Cleaveland.
34 "Letters from Huntington
Correspondence," loc. cit., 158.
35 "Journals of Seth Pease to and
from New Connecticut," in Western Reserve
Historical Society, Tracts no. 94
(1914), pt. 2, 66, entry of May 31, 1797.
36 Memorial to the Pioneer Women, III, 3; "Journals of
Pease," loc. cit., 64.
60
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The large Western Reserve family was not
only an important.
unit of economic organization but also
of social organization.
Parties, courtships, marriages and
deaths, each formed a reason
for social intercourse with outsiders,
while on more ordinary oc-
casions, a father and mother with their
considerable number of
sons and daughters found themselves a
fairly sufficient social
group.
One of the outstanding social events in
early Western Reserve
history was the Fourth of July
celebration in 1801 given at the
home of Lorenzo Carter of Cleveland. In
a letter to Alexander
C. Elliott, Gilman Bryant told of having
attended the famous ball
in his youth: "I waited on Miss
Doan.... when I went for Miss
Doan I took an old mare; when she was
ready I rode up to a
stump and spread her under petticoat on
Old Tib behind me,
secured her calico dress to keep it
clean, and mounted on behind
me. I had a fine time!" 37 There
were about a
dozen ladies and from fifteen to twenty
gentlemen present. The dancers
kept time to Major Jones' violin on the
puncheon floor, and occasionally
refreshed themselves with a glass of
sling made of maple sugar and whiskey;
and never was the anniversary celebrated
by a more joyful and harmonious
company, than those who danced the
scamperdown, double-shuffle, western
swing, and half-moon, in that
unostentatious place of assemblage.38
House- and barn-raisings, hog-killings,
soap-boilings, house-
warmings, husking-bees, spinning-,
weaving-, quilting-parties,
spelling-bees, among innumerable others,
were occasions for social
gatherings.
And for these parties, it was the task
of the women and girls
to prepare the feasts which accompanied
them. Also, the early
women in the Reserve found time to visit
with one another and,
in order to waste as little time as
possible out of the total minutes
of their already crowded lives, they
would take their knitting or
sewing with them. These visits also were
a means for spreading
knowledge, since there was little
circulating literature, gossip being
the chief source of information. And it
was heartily indulged in
during the course of the visit. When
suppertime arrived, the
37 Whittlesey, op. cit., 374-5,
letter of Gilman Bryant to Alexander C. Elliott,.
dated June 1, 1857.
38 Mrs. Ellett, Pioneer Women of the
West (New York, 1852), 58; Whittlesey,
op. cit., 380.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 61
hostess usually baked a shortcake and
brewed a pot of tea. The
homespun tablecloth was spread on the
home-made table and a
dish of stewed fruit or fresh berries in
season graced the center
of the table. The cake was broken into
squares and passed around,
each woman helping herself from the one
common sauce dish.
Occasionally, a housewife was able to
serve "the rare dainty,...
wheatcakes fried in bear's oil."39
Weddings afforded another occasion for
celebration, the cere-
mony usually followed by feasting,
dancing, and hilarity until
"break o'day the next
morning."
Weddings, too, afforded the women an
opportunity to wear
their "Sunday Best," which
sometimes proved to be gowns brought
from the East. The wedding gowns
themselves, were usually made
of calico and that of one young bride,
who married in 1811, "was
dear in more ways than one. She had to
spin one week to pay for
each yard."40 In 1815, it took
seventy-two bushels of corn to buy
a woman's dress.41 On the
whole, the style of women's clothes was
very simple. If able to appear clad in
neat and clean apparel of
domestic manufacture, it was considered
quite sufficient, however
grand or important the occasion. This
was true of even the young
ladies who were of marriageable age, and
who desired to make a
favorable impression. The everyday
costume generally consisted
of homespun and checked aprons.
Most clothing in the Western Reserve,
that of men as well
as women, was made entirely by the
women. Plaids were the pre-
vailing designs, with dyes extracted by
the women from barks,
berries, and leaves. The use of deerskin
and wool materials for
winter, and flax for summer clothing was
the general rule.
Mittens and socks were also knitted by
the women. During the
summer, the women went bare-footed and
whenever possible,
carried their coarse and heavy shoes to
some point just before
their destination, whether gatherings or
prayer-meetings, where
they were put on. Thus, the dress of the
women in the early
Western Reserve was suited to the
plainness of their lives and
were rarely decorated with bits of
home-made lace or needlework.
39 Memorial of the Pioneer Women, III, 83.
40 Ibid., 292.
41 Upton, op. cit., I, 51.
62
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Rings, brooches, buckles, and ruffles
were, in the main, heirlooms
brought from the East.
Maintenance.
The earliest women settlers, no doubt,
lacked any dominating
interest in fashionable wearing apparel,
but rather economic needs
were outstanding, shelter and food being
their first requirements
upon arriving in the Western Reserve.
Some of the very earliest
pioneer women in the Reserve were given
land grants by the
Board of Directors of the Land Company
as in the case of Tabitha
Cumi, the wife of Job Stiles. She and
her husband had accom-
panied the Moses Cleaveland expedition
which arrived in 1796
and Job worked for the company of
surveyors while Tabitha
made herself useful in the preparation
of their meals. When the
couple announced their intention of
becoming permanent settlers
of the Reserve, Tabitha won the gift
offered by the Connecticut
Land Company to the first women
settlers.
Whereas, the Directors have given to
Tabitha Cumi Stiles, one city
lot, one ten-acre lot, and one
one-hundred acre lot; to Anna Gun, wife of
Elijah Gun, one one-hundred acre lot; to
James Kingsbury and wife, one
one-hundred acre lot . . . and all in
the city and town of Cleveland. Voted,
that these grants be approved.42
The first women settlers also joined in
the work of erecting
the earliest cabins and frequently made
repairs and adjustments
within the cabins as well as beautifying
the immediate outdoor
environment by the planting of gardens
and walks. Many a
woman "set to work and built a new
oven. With an ingenuity all
her own she Fashioned the Bricks and
laid them. It was an oven
that endured for years."43 And
since the cooking was done over
the hearth, it was necessary to guard
the fire because there were
no matches and few settlers possessed a
tinder box or sun-glass
with which to rekindle the fire. Mrs.
Asa Dille who came to East
Cleveland in 1802, told of weary walks
she had to take three
miles to her nearest neighbor, Doane, to
get a pan of coals when
hers, unfortunately, went out, and
starting back through the
woods, had to stop frequently to keep
the coals glowing by feeding
them with pieces of hickory bark and
blowing them.44
42 Whittlesey, op. cit., 317,
Proceedings of the Connecticut Land Company.
43 Memorial of the Pioneer
Women, III, 265.
44 Ibid., 51.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN
RESERVE 63
Dishes used by the earliest Reserve
pioneers were few, heavy
and homely, often only truncheons hewn
from logs. Blue ware
was brought from Pittsburgh as early as
the 'twenties. One
woman, desiring a set of blue ware,
therefore carried twenty
pounds of butter on horseback to the
general store to exchange
it for the coveted dishes.45
Women carried the family clothes to the
creek to wash them,
laying them on the grass to dry. The
well was often far from the
house. If there chanced to be a spring,
the stable was invariably
put nearer to it than to the house.46
The cares of the earliest housekeepers
were also increased by
the coming of travelers and new settlers
because, there being no
hotels or boarding houses, the few
resident families had to receive
all newcomers.
Yet, in spite of the fact that these
first women in the Reserve
were kept so busy from morning till
night, the isolation of their
homes must have left an impression on
their characters. Rachel
Dailey came to the Western Reserve in
1806 with an older brother
and her father who returned to New
Jersey for the remainder of
his family after seeing that his two
children were settled. For
the next year, the girl of fifteen
remained alone with her brother,
miles from any neighbor and often alone
for the night. Her fear
of the Indians was second only to her
anxiety for their one cow
which was kept for safety in an
enclosure near the cabin. Often,
when alarmed by some unusual noise, she
would venture out into
the darkness to assure the safety of the
cow from wolves and
bears that frequented the vicinity.47 In
addition, Leonard Case
has mentioned a family in Trumbull
County "by the name of
Stevens who had been there three years
or more. The wife's name
was Hannah. With her, our family had
been acquainted. She said
she had been there three years, without
seeing the face of a white
woman."48
The obtaining and preparation of food
was also more difficult
in the Western Reserve than it had been
in the East. During the
45 Ibid., 70.
46 Ibid., 188.
47 Ibid., 8.
48 Leonard Case, "Early Settlement
of Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio," in West-
ern Reserve Historical Society Tracts, no. 30 (1876), 1-13.
64
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
War of 1812, the scarcity and
expense of tea was exceptionally
irritating, so one woman sent money by
carrier to bring her "a
very small quarter pound" from
Erie. "To make the tea last as
long as possible, she would alternate a
cup with a good smell from
the canister."49
The great distance of the grist mills
also contributed to the
difficulties of supplying food. Mrs.
Nehemiah Porter of Dover
who, when her husband had gone on a two
days' trip on foot to
the nearest mill, made her remaining
one-half teacup of cornmeal
into gruel for the children, simply
tying a handkerchief about her
own waist to appease hunger until her
husband would return.50
During the War of 1812,
war prices had to be paid for
everything. The only flour we could get had
become musty in shipping and was so
disgusting to the taste that no one
could eat it unless compelled by extreme
hunger. . . . The bread made from
this flour was hard and loathsome. . . .
We were then in need of meat, beef
was an article never spoken of. A man at
Doane's Corners had a barrel of
pork to sell, valued at $25.51
The general food supply consisted of rye
and Indian bread
with cornmeal in various forms;
vegetables were mainly potatoes,
cabbage, and turnips; while venison was
the favorite meat and
wild turkey and bear meat were common.
The favorite preserves
were made of wild crabapples, wild
plums, huckleberries and cran-
berries. Soda was lacking and therefore,
hot water was poured
over the ashes of burned corn cobs and
the resulting fluid bottled.
"With this they made biscuits equal
to any made in modern ways."
The first cheese on the Western Reserve
was made at Ridgeville,
Lorain County, in 1813 by Mrs. Belinda
Beebe who pressed the
cheese with a fence rail, one end of
which was stuck between logs
of the cabin, while on the other end was
hung a basket made of
bark and filled with stones.52
Family Protectors and Providers.
Because food was by no means plentiful
and in defense of
her life and those of her children,
especially in the absence of her
husband, it was necessary that a woman
be a good rifle shot. But
49 Memorial of the Pioneer Women, III, 46.
50 Ibid., 59.
51 Early Settlers' Association, Annals, I, no. 4 (1883), 65-8.
52 Memorial of the Pioneer Women, III, 28.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 65
a majority of the women could no more
fire a rifle accurately than
a modern woman can throw a stone. In the
absence of her hus-
band, Mrs. Stephan Moulton, the first
white woman settler in
Monroe, Ashtabula County, discovered
that some wolves had
eaten one of their precious pigs.
Therefore, Mrs. Moulton built
a pen of poles, left the remains of the
pig for bait, loaded a gun
and waited the return of the wolves,
which soon occurred. Her
first "discharge killed one wolf
and nearly so the huntress. Her
little son brought water which revived
her, and, undismayed, she
reloaded the musket and finished the
Remaining Wolf."53
One day in May, 1799, the family of Joel
Thorp became short
of provisions and Thorp left for his
nearest neighbor, twenty miles
distant to ask for aid. Mrs. Thorp and
her three children were
reduced to extremes for want of food
before Thorp's return. One
day, however, when all means for
procuring food were exhausted,
Mrs. Thorp saw a wild turkey flying near
her doorway.
Under the excitement of her feelings she
came near defeating her
object, by frightening the turkey.... On
her second approach, she acted
with great caution and coolness.... It
was now a trying moment and a
crowd of emotions passed through her
mind and as she lifted the rifle to a
level with her eyes, she fired; the
result was fortunate; the turkey was
killed, and herself and family preserved
from death by her skill.54
Absences on the part of the husband and
father in such in-
stances were comparable to the hardships
and privations that
accompanied the death of the family
breadwinner and protector.
In one case in Ashtabula County, when
the husband perished in
the snow while returning home with
provisions which he had gone
to obtain, his wife supported herself
and her children by helping
travelers across the river in her
canoe.55 And when the death of
Colonel John Garrett of Garrettsville,
Portage County, occurred
in 1806, his wife
assumed the cares and responsibilities
devolving upon an enterprising col-
onist. With a family of small children,
the charge of the mill, and as
settlers came, the disposal of lots for
the embryo city, these duties were
discharged in a manner to indicate her a
woman of marked administrative
ability and decision of character.56
As an additional example, in 1798,
Elizabeth Harper with her
53 Ibid., 87.
54 Ibid., 266-7.
55 Ibid., 17.
56 Ibid., 171.
66
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
husband and seven children settled at
Harpersfield, Ashtabula
County. Harper was a Revolutionary War
veteran, with health
and strength broken, and died within
three months after settle-
ment. The following winter proved
difficult. Wild game and corn
on hand furnished food and fodder.
"Elizabeth planted apple
seeds and raised enough plants to set
out two orchards."57
Not only death, but war as well,
frequently took the men
folk from their homes. Particularly,
during the War of 1812,
many women were faced with the care of
their families alone.
The women were compelled to keep up the
businesses and farming
as well as make home improvements in the
absence of their male
relatives. On the surrender of William
Hull, fear was aroused
among the women in the Reserve when
false rumors were spread
of the approach of the British.
"Most of the women and children
fled to the interior settlements,
spreading the appalling news as
they went.... The alarm proved to be a
false one."58
Nursing.
During the course of the war, many ill
and wounded soldiers
were brought to the cabins on the
Western Reserve and the
nursing ability of women settlers was
brought into play. Of a
necessity, all the pioneer women were
good nurses. Their knowl-
edge of roots and herbs was extremely
valuable to the community.
Every season, they gathered their stock
of medicines and tied them
to the rafters of their cabins to dry
until needed. Often, when
women went to spend the day with each
other, herbs were ex-
changed with much valuable information
regarding their uses.
Frequently, the women were forced to
ride alone through the
woods, night or day to aid the sick and
needy. Mrs. Gun who
with her husband accompanied the first
surveying party to the
Western Reserve, was "known as a
competent nurse and in addi-
tion to her household duties,
administered to the sick and the
dying and at births and deaths without
pay."59 Juliana Long,
wife of Dr. David Long who administered
to the needs of the
wounded during the War of 1812, supplemented her
husband's
57 Ibid., 83.
53 Charles Whittlesey, "Gen.
Wadsworth's Division, War of 1812," in Western Re-
serve Historical Society, Tracts,
no. 51 (1879), 115-120.
59 Memorial of the Pioneer Women, III, 4.
WOMEN IN THE WESTERN RESERVE 67
efforts for "through her husband,
she had learned much of the
needs of the sick."60
Conclusion.
Thus, it is obvious that honor is due
these brave early women
settlers, whom no dangers could appall,
no disaster turn aside, no
conditions make afraid. They fought
death and the dangers of a
new country. They endured want, hunger
and illness without a
murmur. The women played a prominent
part in building up a
people whose cleverness and conscience,
skill and intelligence and
whose qualities of heart and of mind
eventually became of great
influence in the United States as well
as in the rest of the world.
In the glory of the westward movement,
women should be allowed
to share the honor of achievement in the
triumph of physical and
moral endurance. There is a need to mark
the small details of
their lives, the thousand trials and
perils which surrounded them,
in order to obtain the generalities of
the true life of the women
pioneers in the Western Reserve.
60 Ingham, op. cit., 26;
Whittlesey, op. cit., 452-3.
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE SETTLEMENT OF
THE WESTERN RESERVE, 1796 - 1815
By HERMINA SUGAR
The writer asked, . . . "Can you
tell me of some exceptional woman
of the early time that I may mention her?" His eye
sparkled more than
usual as he replied, "All of them,
ma'am."1
Introduction.
A true history of the Western Reserve
is, in a large measure,
the history of its women; there were no
famous women in its early
history but it is rather the commonplace
lives that were well and
courageously lived that deserve
recognition and praise. The
pioneer women in the Reserve were noble
women, of the best
New England mold with educational and
religious spirit and of
active intellect, women who were
responsible for the foundation
of forces that eventually proved of
world-wide influence. These
women did not live for themselves; they
did not only preach the
doctrine "Love thy neighbor as
thyself," but practiced it -- lov-
ingly, sincerely, kindly, and
effectively. No concept of the devel-
opment of the Reserve can be gained
without an appreciation of
the role played by its women pioneers.
They endured countless
hardships accompanying their husbands to
the West with the pur-
pose of establishing permanent homes in
the wilderness. With
their presence, civilized conduct
replaced frontier lawlessness and
peaceful and law-abiding communities
were established.
The lives of the women pioneers had much
in common. They
all had difficulties en route to the
Connecticut Reserve, coming by
sled, by cart, wagon, or walking. The
experiences of the Samuel
Huntington family on way to the Western
Reserve were repre-
sentative of those of other pioneers.
Huntington wrote:
"I was nine days on the Journey,
with two Waggons, ten oxen, three
horses, seven Cows, and eighteen persons
in my retinue-- We slept seven
1. Mrs. W. A. Ingham, Women of Cleveland and Their Work
(Cleveland, 1893), 283.
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